WFP approves emergency operation

WFP has approved an emergency operation to distributed 19,550 mt of urgently-needed food aid to people in 12 of the most food-insecure areas in Tanzania. The US $1-million operation, which started in early March, will last three months, a WFP emergency report said. A joint rapid assessment of the food security situation in Iringa region had recommended relief food interventions in the north of Iringa, where agro-climatic conditions were very similar to that of the hard-hit Dodoma region. A WFP team in Dodoma reported declining school attendance levels in Kondoa South district as children were forced to join in the search for food. Other areas in the region reported poor rainfall while the availability of grain in the markets remains very low. In Singida region, some 8,660 mt of maize grain has been distributed to 158,594 beneficiaries under the drought operation, the report said.