Uganda could suffer under World Food Program funding crisis

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The WFP says it is currently $4.1bn short of its 2009 budget. So far it has only received $2.6bn of the $6.7bn it says it needs to provide emergency food rations to 108 million people this year.

Speaking to Marcus Prior, the WFP’s spokesman for east and central Africa, the challenges facing the organization seem immense. As the global financial crisis strikes at aid budgets, consecutive failed harvests, drought and high food prices are helping create a perfect storm of hunger, which is making the WFP’s ability to fulfill its duty to provide those most at need with access to emergency food rations increasingly difficult.

"We are feeding more people in more inaccessible and dangerous locations for longer periods, which pushes our costs up. At the same time, donors are giving less – leaving us barely one-third funded almost two-thirds of the way through the year," said Prior.

"We understand that many donors are going through their own difficult time in this current global financial crisis, but we urge them not to forget the very real and crucial needs of people in this region."

Last week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said nearly 20 million people were now dependant on food in eastern Africa. And it is warning this number is likely to increase to 6.2 million, particularly among subsistence farmers, in rural areas, like Katine.

Josette Sheeran, the head of the WFP, will be heading to the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh in the US later this week to issue another desperate call for funds to plug this shortfall.

Source: Guardian