Food operations in northeast face logistical problems - WFP

Efforts to feed thousands of people affected by drought in Uganda's northeastern Karamoja region have run into logistical trouble after floodwaters washed away a major bridge there, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday. Officials said the route, through which up to 174,883 people are fed, was cut off by floods that washed away the bridge to Karamoja's drought-stricken areas of Kabong, Kalapata and Kathile a week ago. "We have been using it until recently, when it became impossible to get trucks across it. Its state deteriorated last July, but the district officials are trying to work on it," Catherine Operemo, a WFP official in Karamoja, told IRIN. Kabong, with up to 78,389 beneficiaries, Kalapata with 50,000 and Kathile, with 45,797, have been badly affected by the bridge's destruction. WFP said people living in rural areas near Kabong would now have to walk several hours to Kabong town to receive food, while other areas would still require physical delivery due to their inaccessibility. Karamoja, which comprises Moroto, Kotido and Nakapiripirit districts, has been hit by drought every five years since 1980. A survey conducted in August 2004 by Uganda's health ministry and the UN Children's Fund showed that malnutrition rates in the region were higher than in rest of the country. "[An] average malnutrition rate of 18.7 percent, and [a] mortality rate of 3.9 out of every 10,000 people per day are well above the rates found in other regions of the country, including camps for the internally displaced," WFP said. "We have largely met in full our food delivery targets for Moroto district and partially for Kotido district. We did not start distribution of food in Nakapiripirit until August because of theft of the food there," Ken Davies, WFP country director for Uganda, told IRIN. Under WFP's feeding programme, primary school children receive a meal in school, while a take-home ration is provided to primary school girls who have an attendance rate of at least 80 percent.