Starvation threat in Angola

Starving Angolans face food shortage

BBC's Laura Pawson in Luanda

The United Nations Food agency the World Food Programme (WFP) says it may have to cut food supplies to 1.5m starving Angolans because of lack of funds.

People ... do not have the physical reserves to face even small lapses in food consumption

WFP

Seven months after an initial request was made to the donor community, only about a third of the the $208m required has been pledged.

Over 277,000 tonnes of food stuffs are required this year, but the UN World Food Programme has been able to cover the cost of just 100,000 t of food because donations this year are so low.

Ronald Sibanda who heads the WFP in Angola, says the agency is facing a two-fold problem: On the one hand he explains the number of needy people continues to increase rapidly; and on the other, the level of donations is lower than previous years.

Even the harvest season soon to start offers little compensation.

This year agricultural production will be 8% less than it was in 1999, when a low harvest saw levels decrease by 11% from the previous year.

Angola's humanitarian crisis is further aggravated by its longevity.

Maria Flynn spokeswoman for the WFP says: "People have been at a substandard nutritional level for almost two years, they do not have the physical reserves to face even small lapses in food consumption".