100,000 refugees face diminishing rations

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an appeal for US $3.2 million to cover the immediate food needs of over 100,000 Angolan and Congolese refugees in Zambia. The UN food agency on Thursday said the severe shortages of pulses and cereals had forced WFP to reduce rations to the refugees so as to provide them with at least some food assistance in the months ahead. "The situation is extremely serious, as already we have had to reduce the ration for pulses by 50 percent from the start of October. If the current situation continues we will have to do the same for cereals from the beginning of November," WFP spokesperson, Jo Woods, told IRIN. She said 1,500 mt of pulses was needed immediately and 4,000 mt of maize would be required for November. The funding shortage is threatening a number of WFP's food aid programmes, including general distributions in refugee camps and support to the voluntary repatriation exercise. "The current lack of resources means that our ability to preposition stocks in areas that will become inaccessible during the rainy season will be jeopardised," Woods added. Thousands of Angolan refugees who fled the country during the height of the civil war have already returned home under the voluntary repatriation plan, while many more are doing so via airlifts and road convoys, making the most of the small window of opportunity before the seasonal rains render the trip impossible, the UN food agency said. However most of the Angolan refugees and a large number from the Democratic Republic of Congo are unlikely to return home soon, and WFP will be unable to meet their basic nutritional needs if extra donations are not forthcoming.