by René Lavanchy
THE British Government has promised an extra £3 million in food aid for Afghanistan as millions in the country look set to be threatened by starvation this year.
The pledge comes as the United Nation’s World Food Programme began distributing food to 2.5 million Afghans who can no longer afford to feed themselves.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “Providing an immediate safety net will help avoid a humanitarian crisis and end the immediate suffering.”
But the plans could be threatened by insurgent activity in a country where the government controls only 30 per cent of the surface area.
The UN and the Afghan government appealed in January for £40 million of food aid, of which over one third has now been pledged. The WFP blames the crisis on rising global food prices, up 40 per cent since last June, and a severe winter. According to one estimate, Kabul residents spend up to 60 per cent of their income on bread alone.
Rick Corsino, the WFP’s local director, said: “We must take immediate action to reduce the impact of soaring food prices on poor people in Afghanistan”.
“Distributions will be completed before the main mid-year wheat harvest as we do not want this additional food to discourage Afghan farmers from growing wheat for domestic markets and needs.”
As well as trying to feed the poorest households, the UN plans to spend about £2.3 million on preventing malnutrition in young children and breastfeeding women, and on drugs and supplies to combat malnutrition.
The UN’s humanitarianaid office reported this week that food shortages have forced some people in the central province of Ghazni to eat grass and alfalfa, normally fed to cattle, just to survive.
The aid programme is currently threatened by a resurgent Taliban, reported to control 10 per cent of the country, and more bad weather. The WFP said last week it expected spring floods caused by melting snow to affect tens of thousands of people.
It added that there had been a “marked increase” in insurgent and criminal activity, especially in the south and south-east of the country.
