From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: SOUTHERN AFRICA: WFP REQUESTS FURTHER EMERGENCY FOOD AID
Originator: @gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1992 12:18:34 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Agriculture; United Nations
Title: SOUTHERN AFRICA: WFP REQUESTS FURTHER EMERGENCY FOOD AID


harare, sep 18 (ips) -- the u.n. world food programme (wfp)
faces the daunting task of seeking almost two million metric
tonnes of emergency food aid for the 10 southern african states
reeling under a severe drought.

the u.n. agency has received pledges amounting to 1.3
milllion tonnes for the countries -- angola, botswana, lesotho,
malawi, mozambique, namibia, swaziland, tanzania, zambia and
zimbabwe -- against the required 1.7 million tonnes.

bilateral pledges for drought emergency food also fall short
of requirements by 1.6 million tonnes, leaving a net shortfall
of about two million tonnes.

the wfp executive director, catherine bertini, friday expressed
concern over the unprecedented drought emergency, which
threatens the lives of almost 20 million people in the africa
sub-region.

bertini is here to assess the emergency relief operation
carried out throughout southern africa by the wfp.

the rome, italy-based food arm of the united nations
coordinates jointly with the southern african development
community (sadc) the logistics of food aid deliveries,
pledges and movements to the region suffering the worst drought
in living memory.

addressing a news conference, bertini called on the donor
community not only to meet but also to increase their pledges to
satisfy the region's requirements.

''africa remains the only continent not yet self-sufficient
in food'', said bertini, who arrived here from mozambique
thursday. for this reason, she said the donor community has
remained committed to assisting the region.

the wfp executive director expressed satisfication with the
movement of food aid in the region, but slated some states for
bureaucratic problems such as the levying of tariffs and border
closing times.

she pointed out that it took more than two days to transport
food via the tete ''corridor'' to malawi -- a distance of about
300 km -- because the border closes at 15.00 gmt.

the turn-around of wagons from zambia on the 1,860-km
tanzania-zambia railway (tazara) is about 30 days, she said.

''there are problems but they are manageable,'' she said.
''if we see potential problems, the wfp works with government or
the private sector.'' (more/ips)


southern africa: wfp (2)

bertini praised the work of the humanitarian and non-
governmental organisations in the affected countries, especially
in conflict areas such as in mozambique.

''beira and maputo are performing better than we expected'',
the wfp director of operations in mozambique, mark latham, told
ips here friday.

however, he stressed that the delivery of food aid within
mozambique is problematic because of the security situation and
the risk of attack by the mozambique national resistance (mnr)
fighters.

''the mnr does not want us to use road routes but to airlift
the food'', latham said.

because of the magnitude of the task in mozambique, the wfp
has contracted south african and zimbabwean haulage companies to
transport and distribute grain within the country.

''we have set up the u.n. logistics centre (in harare,
zimbabwe) to improve the management and physical capacity,''
latham added. (end/ips/gk/apc/92)

Newsgroups: soc.culture.african