CWS Launches Emergency Appeals for Tanzania, Angola

|TOP|Church World Service has launched two new emergency appeals as the food situation remains precarious in Tanzania and Angola experiences severe flooding and food shortages.

Tanzania’s food security situation is poor, according to fresh reports from the country’s government, with an estimated 99,676 tons of food assistance needed to feed 3.76 million people – more than 10 per cent of the country’s population.

Around 564,000 people have also been identified as destitute and in need of free food distribution by a rapid vulnerability assessment carried out by the Tanzanian government, the Word Food Programme (WFP), and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in early February.

Although the situation is not yet regarded as a full-scale crisis, it is feared that if the long rainy season due to fall between March and May fails or comes too late, it will lead to a huge increase in the number of people in need of emergency food relief.

|AD|The WFP and numerous NGOs fear that the national government does not have sufficient resources to meet the urgent food needs of the population, despite the fact that the Tanzanian government has yet to declare a national emergency.

Church World Service is already working together with its partners in the area to bring food assistance to the most vulnerable and worst affected so far. It is already supporting the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT), a member of the Action by Churches Together International alliance, in its provision of food relief to approximately 80,500 people most in need across seven regions in rural Tanzania.

The food distribution is being undertaken together with the Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), the African Inland Church of Tanzania (AIC) and the Mennonite Church of Tanzania (MEN).

CWS is warning that the emergency food aid will remain vital to the people affected by the food shortages in Tanzania at least until the next harvest, expected in July.

The CCT is already working to form local food relief committees made up of members of the local community which will be tasked with identifying the most vulnerable and destitute.

Church World Service is also appealing for funds to aid the 41,121 people left without housing following severe flooding in Angola. According to an assessment of the affected areas by CWS partner the Igrejas Evangelica Reformada de Angola (IERA or Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola), 1,653 homes were destroyed across several villages with some 3,765 farm fields also destroyed.

IERA is being supported by CWS in its provision of food assistance, shelters and non-food items. IERA is working in partnership with the central government, United Nations agencies, its closer partner Norwegian Church Aid and other traditional donors for the provision of safe water.