Arrival of largest single food aid shipment in Eritrea’s history

ASMARA, Oct 29 (AFP) — A ship transporting 61,200 tonnes of wheat arrived at the Eritrean port of Massawa on the Red Sea on Friday to help some 600,000 people affected by drought, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement.

“This shipment, the largest single consignment of food aid to Eritrea since its independence in 1991 (formalised two years later), comes as the country, in its fourth consecutive year of drought, faces near complete crop failure in some key food-producing regions,” the statement quoted WFP Country Director Jean-Pierre Cebron as saying.

The wheat, donated by the United States, will assist two-thirds of Eritrea’s population unable to meet daily food needs, the statement said.

This wheat shipment will help the drought victims for the next four months, said Cebron. “However, the emergency is far from over and we will continue to need support from the international community into 2005.”