More than 2 000 drought-stricken families in the Kunene and Ohangwena regions will benefit from the World Food Programme (WFP) food voucher programme worth over N.dollars 7.2 million donated by the Japanese government.
The programme is set to be launched in July in the Kunene and Ohangwena regions respectively, where it is meant to benefit people who are struggling to feed themselves due to the devastating drought that affected those parts of the country severely over the past five consecutive years and the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WFP Head of Programme Elvis Gonza Odeke in a recent interview said the WFP is working closely with the Kunene and Ohangwena Regional Councils to collectively devise a mechanism of strengthening food systems in the regions through the promotion of market-based stimulus as a means of strengthening local economies, enhancing rural transformation and human capital development.
Odeke, under the UN WFP, last week oversaw the donation of food packages worth N.dollars 1.7 million to 19 schools in the Kunene Region, through the school feeding programme that he said will be followed by more aid from the Japanese government that will benefit drought-stricken communities.
He encouraged beneficiaries to purchase goods from local retailers and cuca shops within their respective communities, saying: “In this way, the money goes directly to local vendors thus boosting them to expand and grow to better serve the needs of the community. In this regard, communities won’t have to travel for long distances when in need of purchasing goods.”
Odeke further noted that the food voucher programme is meant to assist these communities for not more than three months, adding that WFP also plans to establish a soup kitchen to address the immediate needs of food for communities displaced to urban centres.
“WFP will continue to pursue its mandate of supporting the Namibian government to attain zero hunger through robust solutions that speak to the Namibian context, guided by the national frameworks such as the National Development Plan five and the Harambee Prosperity Plans two,” he noted.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
