IRIN: WFP emergency food aid WFP starts emergency food deliveries August 2006

WFP emergency food aid reaches drought-stricken villages

Kathmandu, 2 Aug 2006 (IRIN)

Drought-stricken villages in northwestern Nepal have begun receiving grain from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

The US $5.3 million operation, considered by WFP to be one of its most difficult and expensive, started in July in response to the severe shortage of food faced by villagers in Bajura, Jajarkot, Kalikot, Dailekh, Rolpa, Rukum, Jumla, Humla, Dolpa and Mugu districts.

Villagers in the drought-stricken districts of remote mountain regions have been suffering from acute food shortage. The districts have a history of food shortages due to their high altitude locations. The Action Contre la Faim (ACF), a French international NGO, said that steep slopes, poor soil and dry climate limited cultivation. Nepalese experts said a severe winter drought, the worst of its kind in 40 years, had made the situation much worse.

For WFP the major challenge has been transporting food to the districts because most of the roads are not navigable. The food has to be airlifted or carried by porters, tractors or mules, lifting the cost to as much as US $350 per mt.

Richard Ragan, WFP Nepal's representative, said many of the districts could only be accessed by helicopter. The start of the monsoon had made using roads nearly impossible, with trucks blocked by landslides and rising rivers.

WFP's partners, Support Activities for Poor Producers of Nepal and the Development Project Service Centre, were helping to find alternative transport including tractors, mules and porters. "In some instances, villagers have had to walk for up to five days to collect their [food] rations," Ragan said.

WFP had also sought help from the Nepalese Army. It had been using three commercial MI-17 helicopters to carry four mt of food per flight.

By 30 July, some 188 mt had been airlifted to Bajura, with 1,300 mt more to be airlifted to Humla, Jumla, Dolpa and Mugu districts, according to WFP. An additional 1,100 mt was delivered by truck to Bajura, Jajarkot, Kalikot and Dailekh.

WFP's aim was to feed a quarter of a million villagers. However, there were concerns that it may not be able to give more aid to six out of the 10 districts if additional funding was not pledged.

"We know this is an area that has chronic food shortages but several years far below average production have pushed people over the edge," Ragan said.

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Kathmandu, 23 June 2006 - WFP

WFP has started transporting emergency food assistance to help communities in western Nepal hit by drought in an operation that is eventually expected to reach 225,000 people.

Queueing for government food - many parts of Nepal do not grow enough to feed the population Nepal has had its driest winter since 1960, according to government records, and last year's monsoon rains were late and erratic ? this on top of two poor harvests in a region that is already chronically food insecure.

"Food insecurity is already a fact of life in these districts, and we are very concerned that drought will exacerbate what was already a precarious situation," said Richard Ragan, WFP County Director in Nepal.

Remote

"To further complicate things, many of the target areas are located in some of Nepal's most remote locations and could require very expensive airlift operations. With the rains approaching, the time to act is now if we are to be able to save lives in these areas."

Assistance will be provided through an accelerated Food-for-Work programme.

Families in drought-hit areas will receive a two-month ration of rice and fortified wheat flour as they participate in quick-impact community projects.

The three-month emergency operation is intended to tide families over to the next harvest, and will cover nine districts in the mid-west area of Nepal, along with Bajura district in the far west.

Struggle

"While there has been much attention on the easing of the recent political crisis in Nepal, these developments have had little impact on people in the drought-affected districts," said Ragan.

Source: WFP 2006

"Families are struggling to find enough food to feed their children by selling their household goods and livestock to survive the rainless period." Because many of the drought-affected communities are some of Nepal's most isolated, WFP will launch an appeal to support airlifts into the most inaccessible areas.