WFP to change focus in Angola

WFP is to embark on a 15-month project in Angola aimed at changing the type of assistance it provides to the needy, a statement by the agency on Wednesday said.

The project, set to start on 1 April, would be aimed at shifting the agency's focus of activities from strictly emergency assistance to encouraging greater self-reliance among communities dependent on large-scale food aid for survival. WFP said the programme would help about 1 million people a month.

"We are concerned not only with saving the lives of displaced people and other hungry poor, but also want to contribute to recovery efforts through food for work and resettlement," said Ronald Sibanda, WFP Representative in Angola.

WFP emphasised that its new operation would only succeed in places where the security situation had improved and where targeted beneficiaries had been provided with sufficient arable land and agricultural supports, such as tools and seeds. At the same time, the intensity, duration and even distribution of rainfall would play a major role in the success of the operation.

"We are not going to abandon people in need. We will continue to give free food assistance to the most vulnerable, such as newly arrived internally displaced persons. At the same time, we will start to encourage and help people develop adequate coping mechanisms that make them self-reliant in the long run," Sibanda said.

The new project is expected to cost US $168 million, enough to cover the cost of commodities, transportation and distribution of 229,000 mt of food. The Angolan government is expected to contribute an additional US $39.5 million to the humanitarian effort. Approximately 40 percent of the project's total resources will be allocated to emergency response through free distributions, mainly to newly arrived displaced and returnees. A further 30 percent will be allocated to both emergency and recovery via
safety nets designed to help the malnourished. The remaining 30 percent will support recovery and rehabilitation for food insecure families through food-for-work projects.