Chinese ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming (R) handed over food to a local official in Namibia's northern town Nkurenkuru, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)
China has provided much-needed emergency food assistance to Namibia's drought-ravaged region of Kavango West. The 1,300 tons of food are expected to assist 77,400 people.
WINDHOEK, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's drought-ravaged region of Kavango West, located in the northern parts of the country, has received the much-needed emergency food assistance provided by China via the World Food Program (WFP).
Around 1,300 metric tons of food were handed over to the region and it is expected that the donation will assist 77,400 people, many of whom are vulnerable women and children.
Speaking at the hand-over ceremony on Tuesday in Nkurenkuru, the capital town in the region, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Zhang Yiming said they secured one million U.S. dollars worth of food assistance under China's South-South Cooperation Fund, which is being implemented by the WFP.
"I am aware that the current relief program by Namibia can only provide 14 percent of the daily calories needed by each person, and the implementation of this program will lift this proportion up to 60 percent," he added.
Zhang said that he had visited some affected areas and saw the devastating impact inflicted on agriculture and the economy by the ongoing drought.
A staff member distributed food to residents in Namibia's northern town Nkurenkuru, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)
"The consequent shortage of food is posing a huge threat to the lives of many local people affected and becomes the utmost concern faced by the government," he said, adding that he is confident that the program will be implemented as planned.
Nkurenkuru Constituency Councillor, Damian Nakambare, in her opening remarks said the donation, which included basic food commodities like maize meal, cooking oil and salt, is set to assist the hardest-hit households in the area.
"This is the third donation so far we have received from China since the declaration of the drought by the president," she said.
Nakambare on behalf of the Namibian government thanked China for the continued support during the difficult time and hopes the two countries can further strengthen cooperation on the areas of disaster risk management and capacity and resilience building so that communities can be able to fend for themselves in future amid the disaster calamities.
Staff members distributed food to residents in Namibia's northern town Nkurenkuru, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)
The WFP Country Director, Bai-Mankay Sankoh said China has been a substantial donor to the WFP in the fight against hunger and is among the top donors in the Southern African region.
According to Sankoh, in 2019 alone China has contributed a total of 21 million U.S. dollars for humanitarian intervention to different governments in southern Africa through the WFP program.
"These are very significant contributions towards the achievements of ending hunger," he said.
Zhang meanwhile said China will stand firmly by Namibian people in the face of the drought by providing all assistance that they can afford.
Namibia is currently experiencing the worst drought recorded in 40 years. The country declared a state of emergency due to a severe drought in May. It further extended the state of emergency and national disaster period by six months to March 2020. ■
