WFP food relief for Badakhshan

As part of its efforts to replenish near exhausted food stocks, the World Food Programme (WFP) has earmarked 1,700 mt of wheat for immediate distribution to the most needy families in two districts of Afghanistan’s opposition-held northeastern Badakhshan Province. “This should be sufficient for the most needy families for the next three months,” the WFP regional public affairs officer, Khaled Mansour, told IRIN on Tuesday. The announcement follows a UN mission sent to the area earlier this month to investigate claims of malnutrition in the Shahr-i-Buzurg and Ragh districts, both badly affected by the drought. While the team did not detect any cases of hunger-related deaths, it found an alarmingly high rate of infant mortality. This was due to a combination of diseases - mostly measles and acute respiratory infections - and a varying degree of chronic malnutrition, while adult mortality was limited mainly to the elderly. According to Mansour, this stemmed from disease not starvation, adding, however, that the nutritional status of human beings affects people’s health which is why they decided to provide urgent help to these two districts. Describing the situation in these districts as “bad”, Mansour said current food stocks there would only last one month. Compounding the problem further, people in both districts lacked food commodities, and wheat in Badakhshan was almost twice as expensive as in other parts of Afghanistan. He added that Badakhshan was not self-sufficient, and generally depended on food imports. Following the fall to Taliban forces of the northern city of Taleqan last year, there has been a severe restriction on the movement of food in the area. The opposition Northern Alliance control only five percent of Afghan territory, including Badakhshan. It is the only province completely under opposition control. Currently there are some 100,000 displaced people in northeastern Afghanistan as a result of drought or conflict, while in the Taliban-held areas the figure is more than half a million. This food distribution is in addition to WFP ongoing extensive food distribution programme in the Badakhshan area.