WFP urgently appeals for food aid for refugees

WFP on Friday urgently appealed for US $2.6 million to continue feeding about 40,000 refugees in Zambia. "We are quickly running out of food and out of time," Jorge Fanlo, WFP Zambia Deputy Country Director warned in a statement. "If we don't receive immediate help from the donor community soon, we will see a dangerous rupture in the food pipeline and rations will have to be cut." WFP said that shortages of basic food commodities such as maize and beans was expected in six Zambian refugee camps by the end of March unless fresh cash pledges were made within the next ten days. "WFP has made repeated appeals for more assistance, but food stocks have remained low due to a lack of response," the statement said. WFP noted that the capture late last year of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) towns of Pweto, Moba and Malilo in southern Katanga province by DRC rebels and the Rwandan army resulted in some 15,000 people entering Zambia's Luapula and Northern provinces in November and December alone. "The flood of refugees into Zambia stopped just before we reached a real crisis point," said Fanlo. "But if hostilities erupt again along our borders with Angola or DRC, we could see another burst of refugees who we can simply not feed." WFP said that refugees who fled to Zambia typically arrived weak and exhausted and that a combination of malaria, which was widespread in the camps, and low food intake could lead to severe malnutrition. "While supplementary feeding programmes have helped reduce malnutrition amongst the refugees in camps such as Kala, health conditions could deteriorate if more food doesn't arrive soon to sustain these programmes," WFP warned. WFP added that additional challenges currently being faced in assisting the refugees were the abnormally heavy rains in the region which has made transport of food difficult. "Western province's Mayukwayukwa and Nangweshi camps, which host more than 26,000 Angolan refugees, are at risk of being inaccessible as road conditions continue to deteriorate. It is therefore urgent that food be moved to the region in case the situation takes a turn for the worse," WFP said.