The drought-stricken Kavango West Area of Namibia, situated in the northern parts, got a badly-needed emergency food aid from China through the World Food Program on Tuesday.
Approximately 1,300 metric tons of food have been handed over to the area and the donation is expected to help 77,400 people, many of whom are poor women and children.
Speaking at the hand-over ceremony in Nkthe urenkuru, the region's capital city, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming said they received $1 million worth of food assistance under the WFP's China South-South Cooperation Program.
"I am aware that Namibia's current relief system can only provide 14 percent of the daily calories every person needs, and this ratio will be increased to 60 percent by introducing this plan," he added.
Third Show of Love
Zhang said he visited some of the affected the areas and saw the devastating impact of the current drought on agriculture and its negative impact on the economy as a whole.
"The consequent food shortage poses a huge threat to the lives of many affected local people and becomes the government's utmost concern," he said, adding that he is sure the project will be implemented as expected.
In her opening remarks, Nkurenkuru Constituency Councillor Damian Nakambare, said the donation which included basic food commodities such as maize meal, cooking oil and salt, is expected to support the hardest-hit households in the district.
"This is China's third donation we have received so far since the president announced the drought," she said.
On behalf of the Namibian government, Nakambare thanked China for its continued support during this difficult time and hopes that the two countries will further strengthen the areas of disaster risk management system and capacity building so that communities will be able to fend for themselves in the face of calamities.
China - and Rains - to the Rescue
Bai-Mankay Sankoh, WFP Country Director, said China has been a major donor to the WFP in the fight against hunger and is among the top donors in the region of South Africa.
In 2019 alone, according to Sankoh, China donated a total of $21 million for humanitarian intervention through the WFP system to various governments in South Africa. "These are very important contributions to reducinthe g incidence of hunger," he said.
Meanwhile, Namibia's Climate Services Center says there may be rains from December 17-23 in some areas of the country.
In a 24-hour cycle, these heavy rainfall events are expected to exceed 50 mm. The CSC said in a heavy rainfall advisory that the rains were likely to lead to localized flooding in some regions.
