ABUJA, Aug 16, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) on Tuesday called for increased food aid to Mali, saying the situation there was "an emergency."
Pablo Reolade, country director for
the UNWFP in Mali, said in a statement issued in the Nigerian capital Abuja
that the appeal became necessary to secure enough food for the more than
175,000 children starving in that country.
"The situation is getting bad and this appeal is urgent to avoid a situation where starvation slips into a humanitarian crisis similar to what is happening in neighboring Niger," he said.
He added that till the end of the year, 13.6 million US dollars were required to feed Malian children under the age of five.
Reolade said UNWFP was already targeting 450,000 people in most critical areas of Mali, which like Niger had a recurring problem of food shortage and malnutrition.
He said Mali was ranked the fourth least developed country in the world, adding that the country had suffered structural food insecurity, lack of rain and desertification.
According to Reolade, last year witnessed the worst locust invasion in Mali in 15 years, which further weakened the nation's ability to grow enough food.
On the intervention of the Malian government, he said, it released 30,000 tons of grains from its National Emergency Reserve with an additional 3,700 tons coming from the UNWFP.