PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
WFP airlifts food to Ivorian IDPs, refugees
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The World Food Programme (WFP) has started airlifting food to tens of thousands of displaced persons in Côte d'Ivoire and the Ivorian refugees in neighbouring Liberia, the UN organization said in a statement received Tuesday by PANA here.
This week, WFP will airlift 270 tons of food from Bamako to Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital.
The operation covers the delivery of 9,000 tons of cereals, especially rice, which will be mostly transported subsequently by road from Mali to the Ivorian towns of Man, Korhogo and Bouake in western and northern Côte d'Ivoire and to Saclepea, Liberia.
Small farmers in Mali are playing a key role in the response to the crisis because rice purchased locally by WFP is sent directly to the operations in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia.
The value of grains purchased at the Peasant Union Faso Jigi in Segou (central Mali), through the Project Purchase for Progress (PHP), is US$ 6.036 million.
WFP is also arranging flights for humanitarian personnel to the northern cities of Bouake and Man, where some aid agencies have already transferred their operations.
WFP was able to carry and distribute 85 tons of food to 27,500 displaced people in Duekoué, west of the country, the statement said.
In Liberia, where over 147,000 Ivorians have fled since December 2010, WFP is trying to supply them with 25,000 tons of food to assist 150,000 ivorian refugees and 36,000 Liberian foster families.
-0- PANA WG/JSG/CEA/BOS 19April2011
This week, WFP will airlift 270 tons of food from Bamako to Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital.
The operation covers the delivery of 9,000 tons of cereals, especially rice, which will be mostly transported subsequently by road from Mali to the Ivorian towns of Man, Korhogo and Bouake in western and northern Côte d'Ivoire and to Saclepea, Liberia.
Small farmers in Mali are playing a key role in the response to the crisis because rice purchased locally by WFP is sent directly to the operations in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia.
The value of grains purchased at the Peasant Union Faso Jigi in Segou (central Mali), through the Project Purchase for Progress (PHP), is US$ 6.036 million.
WFP is also arranging flights for humanitarian personnel to the northern cities of Bouake and Man, where some aid agencies have already transferred their operations.
WFP was able to carry and distribute 85 tons of food to 27,500 displaced people in Duekoué, west of the country, the statement said.
In Liberia, where over 147,000 Ivorians have fled since December 2010, WFP is trying to supply them with 25,000 tons of food to assist 150,000 ivorian refugees and 36,000 Liberian foster families.
-0- PANA WG/JSG/CEA/BOS 19April2011
