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Addis
Ababa, April 4, 2009 – The World Food Program (WFP) imported 375 metric
tons of Sorghum to Ethiopia through the Port of Berbera on March 26,
2009.
The WFP made a cross-border delivery of food commodities to Ethiopia
from Berbera Port in Somaliland.
WFP, the world's largest humanitarian agency, used the port as an
alternative entry port into Ethiopia to bring in its relief and
emergency food stock.
The food aid is destined for the needy Somali region in the eastern part
of Ethiopia for those obviously affected by famine.
"We are happy that the WFP sorghum has reached the region," Mitiku Kasa,
state minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Fortune.
WFP confirmed that a convoy of 16 trucks and lorries had arrived in the
eastern town of Jijiga from Berbera Port. The trucks were loaded with
some 375 metric tons of sorghum for WFP beneficiaries in the Somali
region. Men, women and children who are still enduring the impact of
last year's severe drought and of high global food and fuel prices will
benefit from this aid.
Out of the general 4.9 million people in need of food aid throughout the
country, 1.5 million are found in this region.
"We will be able to help food insecure communities in the Somali region
in an even more timely and efficient manner now that food supplies can
arrive from across the border in Somaliland." Mohamed Diab (PhD) WFP
country director in Ethiopia said in a press release sent to Fortune on
Thursday, March 26, 2009.
The initial delivery of food commodities is part of a total consignment
of 2,000 metric tons of sorghum that is expected to arrive in the
country through the Berbera Port in the next few weeks.
WFP had sought for an alternative port to bring food stocks into
Ethiopia since the recent heavy congestion at Djibouti Port. The new
access from Berbera Port will complement the 'hubs and spokes'
logistical system that WFP and the government implemented last October,
and which operates in seven of the nine zones in the Somali region.
WFP confirmed that the 'hubs and spokes' delivery mode created three new
storage points in the Somali region from which food is transported down
multiple spokes to almost two hundred final distribution points. The
restructuring has also involved the establishment of a secondary
transport system using local transport companies.
Source: Addis Fortune
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