UN agency delivers much-needed food aid

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Friday that a ship carrying 61,200 mt of wheat from the United States had arrived at Eritrea's Red Sea port of Massawa to help alleviate the suffering of some 600,000 people affected by drought in the Horn of Africa country. "This shipment, the largest single consignment of food aid to Eritrea since its independence in 1991, comes as the country, in its fourth consecutive year of drought, faces nearly complete crop failure in some key food-producing regions," Jean-Pierre Cebron, the WFP country director, said. Some 38,500 mt of the food delivered by US-registered 'Liberty Sun' will support WFP's emergency operations in the hard-hit areas of Gash Barka, Debub and Anseba. The other 22,700 mt of wheat is a US contribution to the Eritrean Grain Board. Inadequate rainfall in the last few months has destroyed the majority of crops in the worst regions. The bleak harvest, compounded by a dramatic rise in the price of basic foods, means two-thirds of the population is unable to meet their daily food needs. A recent government nutritional survey found that malnutrition rates had risen significantly in the affected areas in the last year, reaching as high as 19 percent. Fifteen percent is regarded as an emergency situation. Since the end of the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea war, Eritrea has suffered from successive droughts, with harvests hit particularly hard in the main grain-producing regions of Gash, Barka and Debub. The destruction of war, the current stalemate in the peace process, along with the cumulative effects of drought have dealt a serious blow to the economy, reducing Eritrea’s capacity to cover food requirements through imports. The primary objective of WFP's emergency operation, valued at US $46 million, is to save lives by providing 107,399 mt of food to 600,000 drought-affected people to meet their short-term needs. To date, 85 percent of WFP's requirements under this operation are covered, corresponding to 90,232 mt of food. A UN Consolidated Appeal for 2005, in collaboration with the government of Eritrea, identifies a national-food deficit of 505,000 mt, including 384,000 mt required as emergency food aid, targeting 2.2 million people. The government of Eritrea has requested WFP to provide 262,000 mt of this aid.