World Vision seed deliveries looted

The NGO World Vision on Monday had its second truckful of seeds in under a week looted by armed elements outside Baidoa in south-central Somalia. Some 5 or 6 mt of sorghum seed were taken when more than a dozen armed men - apparently rogue elements of the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA) which controls Bay and Bakol regions and parts of Middle Shabelle - held up the truck. The seizure of another load was narrowly averted on the same day. Monday’s looting was in addition to that of another 6 mt load of seeds from World Vision just days earlier. The seeds need to be distributed urgently because the ‘deyer’ rains on which their growth depends have already started. Humanitarian agencies protested jointly to the RRA about the incidents and have been continuing negotiations for the return of the seeds.