MASERU, Oct 26 (AFP) - About a quarter of the population in Lesotho will need food aid in the next five months, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a report released in the southern African country.
"Falling agricultural production, trade constraints, and collapsing employment opportunities conspire to increase the vulnerability of poor households to food insecurity," WFP deputy country director Mads Lovall told reporters Tuesday.

A report released by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the WFP said some 548,800 people out of a population of 1.9 million would need food aid from now until next March.

The food agencies said the situation was exacerbated by the AIDS pandemic.

Lesotho has the world's third highest HIV/AIDS rate with a 29 percent infection rate for those aged between 15 and 49.

It is also among the world's poorest countries and has a per capita income of 590 dollars a year.

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Copyright (c) 2005 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 10/26/2005 07:22:12