The World Food Programme (WFP) in drought-affected Zambia has to start rationing food aid due to poor donor funding, local WFP deputy director Peter Rodriguez was quoted by dpa on Saturday. He said the agency had a deficit of 41.5 million dollars to feed thousands of starving vulnerable people in the southern African country. According to its Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) report, 120,000 tons of food to feed some 1.2 million Zambians was needed till harvest in March next year. Rodriguez said the UN food agency would not manage to supply 81,000 tons of food as requested by the Zambian government. Government reports indicate that 150,000 tons of food worth 30 million dollars would be required to feed people this year alone. According to Rodriguez, the rationing would also be extended to AIDS patients on anti-retroviral therapy in public hospitals and clinics that could not afford to feed them the required balanced diet. The government on Thursday said it had limited resources to fight hunger, and called for partners to help fight poverty and develop an appropriate sustainable food security programme. --More 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT
