JOHANNESBURG, 27 October (IRIN) - The World Food Programme (WFP)
expects the number of people in need of food aid in Zambia to rise to
between 1.7 million and 2 million, and the government has now made an
urgent appeal for assistance.

WFP country director David Stevenson told IRIN the Zambian government
had sent out an appeal to the international community this week,
"indicating that urgent assistance is needed due to the crop failures
in the southern part of the country".

Zambia's population is roughly 11 million.

Stevenson said the situation was deteriorating rapidly in the
drought-prone south, "and we do not have enough resources to meet the
need, so there's increasing concern of malnutrition and other
food-related problems".

A recent news report that eight people had died of hunger-related
illnesses, though incorrect, was "symptomatic of the problem, and we
can expect a lot more concerning news coming out of districts of
Zambia," Stevenson noted.

"People are in critical need of lifesaving assistance and the
situation is much worse than what was originally envisaged, due to
crop failure and the very limited household assets available to hungry
people in south," Stevenson warned.

Many were relying on wild leaves, fruits and roots to survive, which
could have severe consequences for their health.

The Zambia Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZAMVAC), led by the
government and assisted by international agencies such as WFP and
various NGOs, carried out a comprehensive survey of needs in June that
estimated some 1.2 million people would need food assistance until
early next year.

The government has announced that it would be contributing US $8
million, a third of the funds needed to meet food aid requirements,
but much more assistance was needed, Stevenson said.

He added that a ZAMVAC assessment team "has gone out again to reassess
the problem, and it is anticipated that needs will increase to between
1.7 million to 2 million people".

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