UN food aid programme borrows money to feed needy in southern Africa

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which is feeding more than 9 million people in southern Africa this month, said today that was forced to borrow $113 million to ensure that the region’s needy did not starve during the critical lean season from January to April.

The agency said it took the loans on which it still owes some $36 million, from a mechanism that allows it to borrow against expected donor contributions because, even though it had persistently appealed for assistance during the second half of 2005, pledges of food and cash lagged well behind needs.

“If donations are not made quickly enough, we have the financial systems in place to help ensure people do not starve,” Mike Sackett, WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa, said. “But these loans cannot be repeated if the international community does not step in to repay them.

“Loans of this magnitude are only taken if serious consequences, such as loss of life, appear likely and there are no other options,” he added.

Southern Africa is in the acute phase of a long-term emergency due to a combination of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and the governments’ weakened capacity for delivering basic social services, according to WFP, which calls this combination the “triple threat.”

Countries in southern Africa have 9 of the 10 highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world, forcing many families to choose medicines over seeds and fertilizers.

The region also has endured a four-year drought, broken last month by heavy rains in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe that have brought on flooding, displacing thousands of people, exacerbating cholera and malaria outbreaks, and washing away newly planted crops.

WFP said that the area is probably heading towards its best harvest in years but several million people will still need assistance, particularly orphans and those affected by HIV/AIDS, and the agency cannot assist them until the outstanding loans are repaid.