Despite surplus pockets of food insecurity remain

The World Food Programme (WFP) fed almost 830,000 Zambians last month, even though the country produced surplus food this year. After its recent harvest boom Zambia is expected to export an estimated 120,000 mt of maize. But despite the good harvest overall, pockets of food insecurity remain, particularly in the western region where farmers lost crops with the flooding of the Zambezi river at the beginning of the year. WFP regional spokesman Mike Huggins on Wednesday noted that about 542,000 beneficiaries had received food aid in the agency's current emergency operations. WFP distributed assistance to more than 100,000 refugees last month, while 170,000 people in development projects were helped. "Most of Zambia's surplus has been generated by commercial farms, who will want to sell it to the highest bidder, so just because a country produces a surplus doesn't necessarily mean that vulnerable groups will be able to buy that food, or that the government is in a position to be able to procure it for national feeding programmes. Therefore, there is clearly still a significant role for humanitarian agencies like WFP to play in ensuring everyone who needs food is able to access it," he told IRIN. Meanwhile, the latest report from the Famine Early Warning Unit (FEWS NET) noted that food relief for flood-affected victims in western Zambia had been inadequate because the government had not released sufficient funds for logistical support. "Although most of the pre-positioned food in the affected districts was airlifted to distribution centres in mid-June, some has not yet reached the beneficiaries as funds have not been released to allow implementing agents to move it to targeted communities," FEWS NET said. Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are set to receive Zambian maize as the country cements its agricultural recovery. In 2002 a failed harvest left an estimated 2.3 million in need of food aid.