Report No. 19 of 1998 Date: 8 May 1998This report includes: A) Afghanistan B) Sudan C) East Africa: Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda D) Liberia E) Ethiopia F) Angola.
>From Manuel Aranda da Silva, Chief, Technical Support Service. Available on the Internet on the WFP Home Page at http://www.wfp.org/ or by electronic mail from Deborah.Hicks@wfp.org (fax 39 6 6513 2837). For information on resources, donors are requested to contact Aleesa.Blum@wfp.org or Claudia.VonRoehl@wfp.org at WFP Rome, telephone 39 6 6513 2004 or 6513 2504. The address of WFP is Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, Rome 00148.
PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II)
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. Update - Hazarajat region a) Taliban to temporarily lift blockade of Hazarajat for limited amount of food to be moved in from the south, on condition that food also provided to Ghorbund in Parwan Province. WFP to send assessment mission to Ghorbund. b) WFP assessments indicate that up to 167,000 persons in outlying regions of the Hazarajat require 7,500 tons of cereals to cover needs of next three months. c) Logistics missions in the Hazarajat open roads in effort to move food in from Northern Alliance controlled areas. Major constraint remains security of roads from Mazar-i-Sharif south to the Hazarajat.
B. SUDAN
1. Update - incorporates additional information as of 11 May a) Airdrop operations into southern Sudan from Lokichoggio interrupted on 9 May, when floods wash away bridges in northern Kenya, disrupting supply of jet fuel. b) Fourth Hercules C-130 expected soon in Lokichoggio, to join three C-130s now in operation. Modalities being negotiated for fifth C-130 aircraft, expected to be positioned in El Obeid later in the month. c) Expanded fleet of five C-130 aircraft will have combined capacity to deliver more than 5,000 tons per month. Air operations and road deliveries from Lokichoggio and Uganda will allow a distribution target of more than 6,000 tons a month. Food also being delivered along Nile corridor by barge from the north.
C. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI, AND UGANDA
1. Rwanda a) FEWS April report for Rwanda warns that a food crisis is emerging in several prefectures. b) WFP to provide immediate emergency assistance to 100,000 people displaced because of insecurity in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri.
2. Burundi a) Further WFP airlift of 3,000 tons of food into Bujumbura planned, to cover needs of targeted emergency distributions during lean season of May/June (information on planned tonnage as of 11 May); food security and nutritional situation in many parts of Burundi remain precarious. b) Funds pledged by Germany, US and ECHO to cover costs of WFP internal passenger aircraft for remainder of the year and beyond.
3. Uganda a) Voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees in camps in western Uganda suspended by UNHCR, due to poor health conditions in return area of Kamango enclave in DR Congo and bad road conditions. b) Further population displacements in Bundibugyo area due to continued rebel activity. c) WFP-contracted trucks with food for Sudanese refugees reach Adjumani, after being stranded in Gulu due to insecurity on Gulu-Adjumani route.
D. LIBERIA
1. Update a) WFP protests looting of food commodities destined for vulnerable persons in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, in second incident of looting of WFP food in less than two weeks. b) Four WFP trucks leave Monrovia for Gueckedou, Guinea, with supplies of food for Sierra Leonean refugees fleeing continued fighting in eastern Sierra Leone; up to 140,000 refugees have arrived in Guinea. c) WFP provides food assistance to a further group of some 26,000 previously displaced persons in Monrovia camps, now back in pre-war homes in Bomi and Cape Mount Counties; total number of WFP-assisted returnees is 66,800.
E. ANGOLA
1. Update a) Security situation continues to deteriorate, particularly in southern Benguela and in northern Huila. b) Preliminary findings of FAO/WFP Food and Crop Supply Assessment Mission indicate that substantial cereal imports still needed over the coming marketing year.
F. ETHIOPIA
1. Update a) Ethiopia emergency operation, EMOP 5979, urgently requires donor support; EMOP intended to deliver 60,000 tons of food to 800,000 beneficiaries affected by the failure of Meher crop in several parts of Ethiopia. b) Recent ban by Saudi Arabia on livestock imported from Ethiopia and other countries in the Horn seriously affects economic situation for pastoralists of Somali Region in Ethiopia; food imports into the area also affected, raising prices.
PART II - DETAILS
A. AFGHANISTAN
1. UPDATE
1.1 On 5 May, the Taliban announced that, as a goodwill gesture, they will temporarily lift their year long blockade to allow road passage of 800 tons of food from the south into the Hazarajat, on the condition that 200 tons are provided to Ghorbund, located at the front lines of fighting in Parwan Province. This is thus a conditional and temporary lifting of the blockade, while UN negotiations continue for a permanent solution to the impasse. It should be noted that the quantity of food involved will cover only a small portion of immediate food aid needs, which are expected to increase as further information on current conditions becomes available. On the basis of WFP assessments in the Hazarajat region, food can be provided immediately to this region. Food could be moved in by WFP as early as 14 May, if the authorities in Kabul and Kandahar agree to WFP's proposed distribution plan. However, as no assessment has yet been made of the food needs of vulnerable groups in Ghorbund, WFP will need to urgently dispatch a team to the area, as soon as Taliban agreement has been obtained for such a mission.
1.2 Information provided by the five WFP field missions in the Hazarajat indicates the most vulnerable families inside Hazarajat are in serious condition. Up to 167,000 persons in the outlying regions of Hazarajat have food stocks sufficient for only a couple of weeks, and require a total of 7,500 tons of cereals immediately in order to cover their needs over the next three months. Areas within Bamyan province itself which were assisted with food to cover needs over the winter have not yet been assessed, as they are still inaccessible. It is therefore not known how many people will require assistance in these areas. With the return of the Ghazni field mission to Bamyan City, WFP currently has four needs assessments missions ongoing in Hazarajat - one in Uruzgon, one in Ghor and two in Wardak.
1.3 Various logistics missions are operational in the Hazarajat in an effort to move food in from Northern Alliance controlled areas. Road clearing missions have already opened the Bamyan-Yakawlang road, the Yakawlang-Sadbargh Pass-Lal (Ghor) road, and the Yakawlang-Darisuf road. The latter is one of the supply routes to WFP stocks in the north. Roads that are still being opened are the Bamyan-Hajikak Pass-Wardak-Ghazni road, and the Yakawlang-Shatu Pass-Panjao-Waras-Uruzgon road. In most cases, opening roads requires the removal of deep snow by locally hired teams of manual labourers. However, in the case of the Darisuf road, minor repairs were also necessary to make the road traversable by trucks. Another logistics mission has been deployed to Darisuf in Samangan Province to identify surplus wheat in the area and to arrange for its forwarding south to affected areas.
1.4 While road conditions are one of the constraints to the operation, the main constraint is getting existing food stocks in Termez (Uzbekistan) south into Bamyan and the Hazarajat. Northern Alliance authorities are unable to guarantee security on these roads, which are ostensibly under their control, and the insecurity along this northern supply route linking the Hazarajat with Mazar-i-Sharif means that the movement of food along the route is not possible.
B. SUDAN
1. UPDATE - incorporates information as of 11 May
1.1 Airdrop flights into Sudan from Lokichoggio have resumed after a total interruption on Saturday, 9 May, due to shortage of jet fuel caused by closure of the Eldoret/Lokichoggio road south of Lodwar. Two essential bridges had been washed away by the river on Thursday 7 May, following recent heavy rains in the region.
1.2 On Saturday, six fuel trucks were towed through the river while a temporary alternative bridge was built. Stocks of Jet A1 at Lokichoggio as of 11 May stand at 450,000 litres (five days of operations) and regular deliveries are now scheduled.
1.3 Stocks of food in Lokichoggio as of 11 May were approximately 600 tons, with deliveries of 600 tons of WFP food expected in the immediate future, while a further 1,200 tons are being despatched from Mombasa using several transporters.
1.4 All three Hercules C-130s currently at Lokichoggio have resumed normal operations while the fourth is being positioned from Angola today (11 May).
1.5 From Lokichoggio, the aircraft reach various southern Sudan locations, mainly in Bahr el-Ghazal province. Each C130 is able to carry 16 tons per rotation, making two or three rotations a day.
1.6 A fifth C-130 aircraft is expected to be positioned in El Obeid, Sudan later this month. The technical modalities for this operation are currently being negotiated.
1.7 The fleet of five aircraft, which will have a combined capacity to deliver more than 5,000 tons per month, as well as a Buffalo aircraft with 400 ton carrying capacity, along with planned road deliveries from Lokichoggio and Koboko (Uganda), will allow a distribution target of more than 6,000 tons a month of food to people in need in southern Sudanese. Food is also being delivered along the Nile corridor by barge from the northern sector of Operation Lifeline Sudan.
1.8 On the political front, a further round of peace talks ended in Nairobi this past week, between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, hosted by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Talks appear to have been inconclusive. The two parties agreed to meet again within three months.
C. EAST AFRICA: RWANDA, BURUNDI AND UGANDA
1. RWANDA
1.1 The April report of USAID's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) project presents a bleak picture for Rwanda's current food security situation. The report indicates that there are clear signs that a food crisis is emerging in several prefectures, with aid agencies reporting steep increases in the number of persons requiring supplementary and therapeutic feeding. Many boarding schools have reportedly closed before the end of the semester due to food shortages. The report adds that seeds for most crops remain in short supply.
1.2 Authorities in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri have requested WFP food assistance for some 100,000 displaced persons in the two prefectures as a result of insecurity. Following visits to the prefectures, WFP has agreed to provide immediate emergency assistance to these displaced persons who are accommodated around administrative and military centres. Close to 600 tons of food will be required for an initial two-week period. Women's committees and the National Food Committee will implement the food distributions, with close monitoring by WFP.
1.3 Since the beginning of the year, WFP has distributed almost 12,000 tons of food commodities in the country, assisting an average of 200,000 persons each month. Most of this assistance has been channelled through food-for-work schemes, benefiting on average 90,000 participants every month. The prefectures that benefited most from WFP assistance are Byumba, Butare, Gitarama and Kigali.
1.4 Following reports from Region Sanitaire on the deteriorating nutritional status of residents of resettlement camps in Kibungo, WFP has started to distribute food to the newly established nutritional centres in the camps. WFP monitors have been to the camps to encourage residents to formulate food-for-work programmes which will could meet longer term needs. Some programmes have been proposed and are being analyzed by WFP.
1.5 WFP support to the joint UNDP/MINIREISO project has come to an end, following the termination of the UNDP project. This was one of the largest housing programmes supported through food for work. During 1997/98, a total of 3,174 houses were constructed and 2,588 are already occupied.
2. BURUNDI
2.1 To cover urgent food needs during the lean season of May/June, WFP is planning to airlift another 3,000 tons of food into Bujumbura, in order to carry out targeted emergency distributions (information on planned tonnage as of 11 May). The food security and nutritional situation in many parts of the country remain precarious and the new airlift is needed to augment the still limited overland food deliveries. WFP completed a previous airlift during the first week of April of 685 tons of food urgently needed for nutritional centres and vulnerable groups.
2.2 During the last week of April, WFP despatched close to 410 tons of food for distribution to needy persons. Oxfam Quebec continues to provide WFP return packages to repatriates from DR Congo as they leave the Gatumba transit site, following Government instructions to close this site. Over 1,000 persons have left Gatumba in the past three weeks.
2.3 WFP has secured funding pledges to cover the costs of the internal passenger aircraft for the remainder of the year and beyond. The Government of Germany will fund two month's operations and the US another six months. ECHO funding has been made available to fund aircraft operations, also for six months. This aircraft remains crucial in ensuring access to all parts of the country, given the unstable security situation and restricted movements by road.
3. UGANDA
3.1 The voluntary repatriation programme of Congolese refugees in camps in western Uganda has been suspended by UNHCR, due to the poor health situation in the Kamango enclave in DR Congo, the area of origin of these refugees. In addition to the health constraints, the road to the Congolese border and beyond to the enclave have recently worsened due to heavy rains.
3.2 Population displacements continue to occur in the Bundibugyo area, as a result of continued rebel activity. During the week close to 1,200 persons fled to Kabarole, near Fort Portal. Over 10,000 persons have been recently displaced in Bundibugyo, frustrating efforts of Government and relief agencies to implement the resettlement programme. WFP food assistance is being provided to these recently displaced persons.
3.3 A total of 14 WFP-contracted trucks loaded with food destined for Adjumani, for distribution to Sudanese refugees, that had been stranded in Gulu due to insecurity on the Gulu-Adjumani route, have now reached their destination. More trucks loaded with WFP food are still in Gulu, waiting for military escort.
D. LIBERIA
1. UPDATE
1.1 WFP has protested to the Liberian authorities concerning the recent looting of food commodities destined for 2,000 vulnerable persons in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. On 2 May, 10.25 metric tons were stolen after three trucks, carrying a total of 32 metric tons of assorted commodities, fell into intentionally dug trenches in Nimba County. This is the second incident of looting of WFP food in less than two weeks. On 23 April, members of the Armed Forces of Liberia seized 4.7 metric tons of bulgur wheat and 420 containers of vegetable oil, meant for returnees in Dorwein, Cape Mount County.
1.2 Four WFP trucks, loaded with 40 tons of corn-soya blend, departed Monrovia on 5 May for Gueckedou, Guinea. This is the first tranche of a 300 ton consignment to be forwarded to WFP Guinea which will be used to feed recent influxes of Sierra Leonean refugees. The influx is due to continued fighting in eastern Sierra Leone, and it is estimated that up to 140,000 refugees have arrived in Guinea.
1.3 Through the assistance of the working group on resettlement in Liberia, some 26,000 displaced persons left Monrovia camps at in late April/early May for their pre-war homes in Bomi and Cape Mount Counties. WFP has provided food assistance to this group, bringing the total number of WFP-assisted returnees to 66,800.
1.4 WFP, together with implementing partners Lutheran World Federation/World Service, World Vision International and GTZ, will distribute rice seeds and tools to returnee farm groups in Bomi, Bong, Cape Mount, Nimba and Lofa and Counties.
E. ANGOLA
1. UPDATE
1.1 The security situation has continued to deteriorate in Angola, particularly in southern Benguela and in northern Huila, where several attacks were recorded, including the shooting of an expatriate NGO worker.
1.2 The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a two-month extension of the mandate of the UN Observation Mission in Angola (MONUA), until 30 June; 595 of MONUA's 1,045 troops will be withdrawn by 1 July, while the remaining 450 soldiers, including 90 military observers, will remain in Angola until late 1998.
1.3 The annual FAO/WFP Food and Crop Supply Assessment Mission left the country on 30 April 1998 after a two-week mission during which 11 provinces were visited. Although preliminary findings indicated that there has been a significant increase in the production of most cereals, it is estimated that domestic production in Angola will still only meet part of its cereal requirements, and substantial cereal imports will be needed.
F. ETHIOPIA
1. UPDATE
1.1 WFP still requires resources to meet requirements for the Ethiopia emergency operation, EMOP 5979, which planned to deliver 60,000 tons of food to 800,000 beneficiaries affected by the failure of the Meher crop in several parts of Ethiopia, over a five-month period. To date, less than ten percent of requirements for this operation, which was approved in mid-March, have been met.
1.2 A recently imposed ban by Saudi Arabia on livestock imported from Ethiopia, and other countries in the Horn, has dramatically affected pastoralists of Somali Region. Almost 90 percent of the population of Somali Region derive their livelihood from livestock. The ban has also lead to decreased imports of food, and consequently, resulted in higher prices of commodities such as rice, sugar and wheat. As a direct result of the economic consequences of the ban, the repatriation rate of Somali refugees from Ethiopia to northern Somalia has decreased.
1.3 Serious outbreaks of malaria, which continue in Tigray, Amhara and SNNPR Regions and in Borena Zone of Oromiya Region, where the disease has reportedly reached epidemic levels, has hampered land preparation activities for the upcoming Meher season. Participation in WFP food-for-work activities in Tigray has been reduced through increased morbidity levels within the labour force. WFP is concerned that any disruption to agricultural activities during the next two cropping seasons (either the current Belg or next Meher), both of which failed last year, could have serious consequences. Current coping mechanisms are already stretched following the failure of the last Meher and Belg seasons in parts of the country.
Note: all tonnage figures above refer to metric tons
(End WFP Emergency Report No. 19 of 1998 - May 8, 1998)
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