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South
Africa donates $21.5 million to FAO/WFP
4 October 2005, Johannesburg -
South Africa will donate 140 million rand ($21.5 million) to FAO and
the World Food Programme (WFP) to support the agencies' operations
in southern Africa, FAO/WFP announced today.
The donation is the third major
contribution from South Africa to the UN agencies since 2003 and
comes at a critical time in the gearing up phase of programmes ahead
of the region's lean season, which starts as early as November in
some countries.
FAO will receive 98 million rand ($15
million) for agricultural and livestock inputs, and WFP will get 35
million rand ($5.4 million) for food aid. An additional 7 million
rand ($1.1 million) will be donated for the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) Regional Early Warning System.
"Yet again the Government of South
Africa is playing a leading role in trying to help its neighbours
during their time of critical food need," said Mike Sackett, WFP
Regional Director for Southern Africa. "Already many poor people
have very little to eat and their needs are only going to escalate
the closer we get to the lean season, but because it's a cash
donation, we'll be able to buy food locally and quickly transport it
to the people in need."
In 2003 South Africa donated 170
million rand to WFP which was used to buy 100 000 tonnes of maize in
this country. In 2004, the Government donated 100 million rand,
which was divided between the FAO and WFP to help people meet their
food security needs.
FAO has supported farmers and their
families with agricultural inputs, the provision of poultry and
goats, tools for small-scale irrigation and vaccines against animal
diseases, such as foot-and-mouth, and the creation of cassava and
sweet potato nurseries and backyard gardens, among other activities.
"Large numbers of people in the
central-eastern part of southern Africa including Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Malawi and southern Mozambique are at risk of food insecurity due to
reduced harvests, lack of purchasing power and the devastating
effects of HIV/AIDS," said Anne M. Bauer, Director of FAO's
Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division.
"Rural families will need further
support to broaden the basis of their often very poor incomes," she
said. "Vulnerable households require better access to agricultural
and livestock inputs. FAO will provide assistance in livestock
surveillance, soil and water conservation and management, gardens,
small-scale irrigation, training in labour- and time-saving
technologies, school gardening and Junior Farmer Field and Life
Schools," Bauer said.
Funding shortfall
WFP launched a regional appeal in
January this year for $621 million to assist the region's most
vulnerable in Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and
Zimbabwe over the next three years. However, WFP still faces an
immediate funding shortfall of $152 million to feed up to 9.2
million people through to the end of the next lean season in
March/April 2006.
FAO has asked for $16 million to
finance its emergency activities in southern Africa. To date, the
agency has only received $3 million.
The situation in southern Africa is
considered so serious that in early August, UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan wrote to 27 Heads of State, the European Commission and
the African Development Bank to raise the alarm for urgent funding
to "avert a catastrophe".
"Maize prices are already rising
dramatically in most countries in the region, months ahead of the
lean season, which means that many people we assumed would be able
to fend for themselves will need food aid earlier," said Sackett.
"The South African donation comes at the right time to help many
people who would otherwise face an extremely difficult and long
period without enough food to eat."
Contact:
Erwin Northoff
News Coordinator
erwin.northoff@fao.org
(+39) 06 5705 3105
(+39) 348 25 23 616
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