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Friday, 7 September, 2001, 12:41 GMT 13:41 UK
Angola food warning
By Justin Pearce in Luanda

Frequent farm raids force Angolans to seek food aid

The World Food Programme says that at least one million Angolans face the prospect of serious malnutrition in the coming months unless donors pledge more food aid within the next four weeks.

About one million people displaced by war are dependent on food supplied by the United Nations agency.

Continuing instability is forcing more and more Angolans to leave their farms and seek emergency assistance.

The WFP's country director for Angola, Ronald Sibanda, said the UN food agency was battling every month to secure enough food to prevent people from going hungry.

The UN agency feeds nearly 1m displaced

Massive hole

He warned of a massive hole in the WFP's food supply line which would hit hard in January next year.

Last week the United States said it was donating more than 20,000 tonnes of corn for distribution in Angola.

But the WFP said that this was not enough to meet the current needs of its operation and hoped other countries would also make donations.

The civil war, which has been going on for 25 years between the government and Unita rebels, has left about 2.5 million internally displaced people in Angola.


Raids

Instability continues, particularly in the central highland area of the country.

Frequent raids on farms and villages force people to abandon their land and seek refuge in the main towns, which are secure enough for the aid organisations to operate.