Supply shortage forces WFP to reduce food aid in Eritrea

ASMARA, Feb 22 (AFP) — A shortage of supplies has forced the UN’s World Food Program to reduce food rations to about 750,000 people in Eritrea until at least June, officials said Tuesday.

Those most in need will not be affected by the reduction which will see rations cut back from 2,100 kilo calories per day to 1,400 beginning next month, according to WFP’s country director for Eritrea Jean-Pierre Cebron.

“This decision was negotiated with the Eritrean government,” he said. “Because we lack supplies, we had no other choice.”

However, Cebron stressed that supplementary nutritional aid would still be provided to vulnerable populations like children.

About 2.2 million Eritreans, out of a total population of 3.8 million, are expected to need international humanitarian aid, including food, in 2005, according to the UN.

Cebron blamed the shortage on the budget cycle of donor nations, their internal disbursement procedures and the availability of ships to haul the cargo to Eritrean ports.

“Donors have not stopped giving, it’s a problem concerning the arrival of the food,” he said, adding that it was not the first time rations had to be reduced in Eritrea or in other east African nations.

“It’s a cyclical problem,” Cebron said.