allAfrica.com: East Africa: Kenya-Somalia: WFP Warns = of Catastrophe If Donations Delay


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Kenya-Somalia: WFP Warns of Catastrophe If = Donations=20 Delay


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UN=20 Integrated Regional Information Networks

March 6, 2006
Posted=20 to the web March 6, 2006

Nairobi

Millions of vulnerable people in Kenya and Somalia = could=20 face a catastrophe if sufficient food donations are not delivered to = them in the=20 coming months, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has = warned.

Addressing a news conference at the end of an = 11-day visit=20 to eastern Africa, WFP Executive Director James Morris described the = situation=20 in the two countries as "serious - very, very serious".

"This is a part of the world where they have had = very little=20 rainfall over five, six years. This year the forecast is, again, not = good,"=20 Morris said.

"I visited El Wak [in Mandera District, = northeastern Kenya]=20 and I have never seen anything like this," he added. "This is a harsh=20 environment, and the pastoralists need food to stay alive."

According to WFP, a donation from the Kenya = government of=20 60,000 tonnes of maize and rice will cover cereal requirements for March = and=20 April for some 3.5 million Kenyans in drought-affected areas, but WFP = only has=20 half the quantity of beans needed for March and no vegetable oil.

In addition, stocks of highly nutritious corn-soya = blend -=20 used to boost the dietary status of vulnerable children and pregnant and = nursing=20 women - were extremely low.

"I saw thousands of pastoralists barely existing = El Wak,"=20 Morris said. "They have lost their animals, and with them, their means = of=20 survival. They are forced to share the food aid they receive with new = arrivals=20 who are showing up each day.

"So far the human death toll is fairly limited," = he said.=20 "But we fear that any break in food supply to the most vulnerable people = will=20 lead to suffering and death on a much larger scale.

"The situation is equally serious in Somalia, = where 1.4=20 million people are at risk in the south," Morris said.

Morris urged Somali leaders to set aside their = differences=20 and guarantee safe passage of aid to those in need.

A spate of ship hijackings off the coast of = Somalia in 2005=20 closed WFP's normal supply routes for food aid by sea. Security issues = have=20 hampered overland convoys, prompting WFP to use both the slower and more = costly=20 land routes and limited shipping.

The number of those in need of food aid in Kenya = was arrived=20 at following a joint assessment in January by the government and aid = agencies.=20 "Nothing has changed in the last 60 days to suggest the situation has = changed,"=20 the WFP head said.

WFP still requires an additional US $189 million = for its=20 Kenyan operations and $34 million for emergency work in Somali.

Relevant=20 Links

East = Africa=20
Climate
Food,=20 Agriculture and Rural Issues
Somalia
Kenya=20
International = Organizations=20 and Africa
Aid and = Assistance=20 =

Morris praised donors for the contributions they = have made=20 so far. "Donors have been very generous," he said. "But they will need = to do=20 more. If there is a break in our pipeline, casualties may occur."

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the = views of=20 the United Nations ]

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