WFP seeks $500m emergency fund

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The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an ‘extraordinary emergency appeal’ to donor countries for at least $500 million by the end of April to meet global shortfalls, which include a $15 million shortage in emergency food aid to cyclone-hit areas in Bangladesh.

“We urge your government to be as generous as possible in helping us to close this gap — which stood at 500 million dollars on February 25, and has been growing daily,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran in a letter sent to donor countries last month, reported a British daily, the Financial Times.

Sheeran warned, without the food aid, WFP would have to reduce its global food aid operations because of rising food and oil prices.

WFP Acting Country Director Edward Kallon told The Daily Star last night that the food and funds shortfalls are also affecting the UN organisation’s operation in Bangladesh, which is among the 40 countries being closely monitored for food shortages.

“Bangladesh is being closely monitored because of the increased food needs due to the cyclone emergency and the large number of poor people who cannot access the markets, especially the 27 million ultra poor,” said Kallon.

Kallon said WFP is still assessing the shortfall in its food aid to Bangladesh, which is as a whole estimated at 5 lakh ton at the moment.

“The shortfall is affecting the emergency food assistance to areas affected by cyclone Sidr,” said Kallon adding that WFP has received only $37 million in response to the $52 million requested in the emergency appeal in the aftermath of Sidr.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), WFP’s biggest donor with a billion dollars a year donation, was forced to cut $120 million from future aid programmes to pay for emergency aid needs.

Recently, regional WFP officials expressed fears of political and social unrest in Bangladesh due to soaring food prices, while International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) told the media, “This is a serious security issue.”

In WFP’s letter to donors, Sheeran wrote, “This is the new face of hunger, increasingly affecting communities that had previously been protected.”

Some global food analysts forecast that bringing down food prices could take at least a decade, especially due to rising oil prices and increasing food demand in China and India.

Additionally, rising meat consumption has pushed up the demand for grains used as animal feed, which in turn has reduced land use for food grains.

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