Donors respond to appeal

Donors have begun to respond to the World Food Programme's (WFP) massive US $500 million appeal for the millions in need of food aid in six Southern African countries. WFP said in a press release that the United Kingdom had donated US $28.1 million, Canada nearly US $1 million and the Netherlands US $500,000. "The British, Canadian and Dutch contributions will be used to immediately purchase some 50,000 mt of food for distribution throughout the region. Cash donations are particularly valuable because they enable WFP to purchase food in the region, and begin distributing it as early as one month's time," WFP said. The three countries were the first to formalise their donations to WFP's US $507 million appeal for close to one million mt of food aid. Major contributions from other donor countries were being finalised. WFP's regional emergency operation is designed to help feed 10.2 million people until the next main harvest in March 2003. Britain's contribution to the WFP's regional appeal in Johannesburg was signed by Sam Sharpe, Head of the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in Southern Africa, and WFP Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Judith Lewis. Sharpe said Britain was very concerned about the worsening food situation in Southern Africa and was immediately allocating US $28.1 million towards the cost of emergency operations. This was in addition to British support for NGOs and brought DFID's total contribution to the region's short term needs to about US $68.5 million. "These donations are timely and crucial. However, we need similar contributions immediately if we are to prevent another catastrophe in Southern Africa," said Lewis, the WFP's Regional Director. "Seven million people in the region are very hungry now and that number will only grow over the coming months." WFP will conduct ongoing assessments in order to monitor the degree of deterioration in regional food security. "The supply of affordable maize, volume of commercial food imports, effectiveness of government agricultural policies and the possibility of another El Nino phenomenon, among other factors, will all impact the number of hungry people in the region," WFP said. At least 12.8 million people will require food aid in the region over the next nine months. "WFP is appealing for 67 percent of the region's cereal food aid. This amount is the maximum WFP feels it can realistically mobilise and distribute," the agency said. Bilateral donations and NGOs would need to make up the shortfall. The WFP would target the most vulnerable households such as families affected by HIV/AIDS and those headed by women, children and the elderly. "The humanitarian crisis affecting Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland has been caused by a 'perfect storm' of natural and man-made disasters. Drought, flooding, failed government policies and devastated economies are all to blame. All this is greatly exacerbated by the fact that the region suffers from chronic malnutrition, extreme poverty and the world's highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS," WFP said.