The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that it will be forced to suspend its life-saving assistance to one million people at the peak of the hunger season in Mozambique if additional funding is not received urgently.

WFP made this known in a statement, raising concerns over the lack of financial support in responding to the hunger crisis in the country.

Reports suggest that Cabo Delgado, a province in the country’s northern region, is the most food-insecure province.

About 1.15 million people in the province are suffering from severe hunger, with data indicating the situation may deteriorate further in the coming months.

In December 2020, following the escalation of violence and the Covid-19 pandemic, WFP opened an airbridge connecting inaccessible areas in the north.

The air service has since transported over 10,000 humanitarian personnel and 70,000 kg of humanitarian cargo and carried out over 330 security relocations.

However, WFP said its funding situation has been worrisome for some time, with the UN agency running out of funding options.

‘In addition to challenges to fund its food assistance operations, WFP is faced with funding shortfalls for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) that it runs on behalf of the entire humanitarian community’, it said in the statement.

‘WFP requires U.S.$ 51 million to continue delivering life-saving assistance to one million people and provide the much-needed services’.

While appealing to donors for urgent funding, WFP said it will strive to maintain life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable groups such as those most undernourished, malnourished children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.

Photo source: WFP