WFP in Nepal cutting food aid to half a million people

(December 12, 2009) The World Food Programme in Nepal says it will be forced to cut food aid to over half a million people because of a funding shortage. The WFP says it needs to raise $20m in order to provide enough assistance over the next three months. The organisation provides aid through a food-for-work scheme to 1.6 million Nepalis throughout the country. It gives food supplies in exchange for work on infrastructure projects like irrigation, roads and bridges. However, the United Nations agency has said it's been forced to dramatically scale down its aid because of a funding shortfall, largely due to the global financial crisis. The WFP has described the situation in Nepal as critical, saying that a winter drought, poor monsoon and high food prices have meant that more people in this region are facing food shortages this winter. The WFP says that without food assistance, thousands of families will be forced to sell off livestock and consume seed stocks, threatening future harvests.