EMU happy with drought relief programme progress

THE Emergency Management Unit (EMU) says it is pleased with the progress made in the drought food relief programme: by the end of January 126 318 households countrywide had been reached.

This represents 50 000 people more than the initial figure of 642 539 beneficiaries, determined through registration. Deputy Director of the EMU Gabriel Kangowa told The Namibian that it was not unusual for numbers to swell once actual distribution starts.He said potential beneficiaries were often omitted during official registration and were only identified and signed on to the programme during the first round of food delivery.”It’s the same every time.During every programme we always land up having more [beneficiaries],” he said.Sixty per cent of Government’s budget of N$275 million for this year’s drought programme is for food aid alone.As of the beginning of this month, 12 000 metric tonnes of food (maize, dried fish and cooking oil) had been distributed to the needy in all 13 regions.Government estimated that in total about 29 000 metric tonnes of food would be required for food provision until the end of May.The largest number of beneficiaries of the programme live in the Caprivi Region, where food has been distributed to more than 22 000 households.The regional EMU has registered almost 4 000 more people since the distribution began there in December.The number of households identified in need of aid in the Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions have also swelled.During January, officials reached 18 828 households in Ohangwena, 5 000 more than planned, while in Oshikoto more than 14 000 households have received aid – an increase of 4 000.Other regions appear to be distributing food aid according to the number of households they registered last year.More than 16 000 households have received food in the Omusati Region and another 14 884 more in Oshana.In the Kavango, where the programme stalled for a little while in January while questionable data was under scrutiny, 10 000 households have now received food.They are working on a rough target of distributing to 19 000 households.In the less densely populated southern regions, just more than 1 000 households each in Hardap and Karas have been covered.The programme’s fewest number of beneficiaries are resident in the Khomas Region, where 530 households are registered for aid.All beneficiaries registered in the Omaheke (6 840 households), Otjozondjupa (8 928), Kunene (6 400) and Erongo (4 653) received monthly rations during January.Deputy Director of the EMU Gabriel Kangowa told The Namibian that it was not unusual for numbers to swell once actual distribution starts. He said potential beneficiaries were often omitted during official registration and were only identified and signed on to the programme during the first round of food delivery. “It’s the same every time. During every programme we always land up having more [beneficiaries],” he said. Sixty per cent of Government’s budget of N$275 million for this year’s drought programme is for food aid alone. As of the beginning of this month, 12 000 metric tonnes of food (maize, dried fish and cooking oil) had been distributed to the needy in all 13 regions. Government estimated that in total about 29 000 metric tonnes of food would be required for food provision until the end of May. The largest number of beneficiaries of the programme live in the Caprivi Region, where food has been distributed to more than 22 000 households. The regional EMU has registered almost 4 000 more people since the distribution began there in December. The number of households identified in need of aid in the Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions have also swelled. During January, officials reached 18 828 households in Ohangwena, 5 000 more than planned, while in Oshikoto more than 14 000 households have received aid – an increase of 4 000. Other regions appear to be distributing food aid according to the number of households they registered last year. More than 16 000 households have received food in the Omusati Region and another 14 884 more in Oshana. In the Kavango, where the programme stalled for a little while in January while questionable data was under scrutiny, 10 000 households have now received food. They are working on a rough target of distributing to 19 000 households. In the less densely populated southern regions, just more than 1 000 households each in Hardap and Karas have been covered. The programme’s fewest number of beneficiaries are resident in the Khomas Region, where 530 households are registered for aid. All beneficiaries registered in the Omaheke (6 840 households), Otjozondjupa (8 928), Kunene (6 400) and Erongo (4 653) received monthly rations during January.