WFP poised to help those hit by latest floods

WFP said in a statement on Friday that it had "sufficient" food available to help those affected by the current wave of floods in Mozambique.

"Lessons learnt from last year's floods, and the contingency plans subsequently drawn up, are already paying tangible dividends as seen by the rapid and efficient response to the current floods," said Georgia Shaver, WFP's Regional Manager for Southern Africa. "As the downpour of rain continues, we are closely monitoring the possibility of even more floods, and are prepared to use our food stocks to react quickly."

WFP said that it was tapping into 4,500 mt of food stocks strategically placed around the country months ago, and was feeding 20,000 people in flood-hit central Mozambique. It said that "in a worst case scenario" this was enough to feed 250,000 people for a month. WFP said that "for now" it had sufficient food donations but that more food or cash may be required if flooding continued to increase.

WFP added that in recent days, more aircraft had joined two government helicopters which have been busy delivering supplies to flood stricken areas. The new planes are a C-130 aircraft provided by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and a USAID-funded light aircraft being used to shuttle food, medical and sanitation equipment. WFP has also hired a large 45-ton capacity boat to transport food and medical supplies from Beira, in the central province of Sofala.

The food agency said that its assistance to the country's latest flood victims came on top of food aid still being given to some 100,000 people who were not yet back on their feet after last year's floods. "By receiving WFP food rations in exchange for labour on various projects, communities have been rebuilding vital infrastructure, like roads, dykes and irrigation canals to help mitigate the effects of future disasters," the statement said.

"Ironically, in Gaza, the province worst affected by floods last year, the paucity of rainfall in the last three months has led to a dramatic decline in crop prospects and the increased threat of drought. Provincial authorities estimate that tens of thousands of people will be at risk from drought in the province should the current dry spell continue," WFP warned.