A WFP helicopter distributes aid south of Labutta township. Pic: Supplied

THE World Food Program is now providing steady food assistance to over 500,000 of its estimated caseload of 750,000 people in the Ayeyarwady Delta, says country director Chris Kaye.

“There are elements of our program that are encouraging as we are getting food to people who need it. The key for us is to ensure the sustained flow of food into those affected areas,” he said. Some of those who we reached in the immediate aftermath have already received their second food basket, while others have not. We intend that in the coming days we will have established the complete pipeline that will ensure all those targeted will receive the full food basket of rice, pulses, oil and salt. With the full support from donors we are hopeful that we will be able to continue this supply for the next five months,” he said.

In addition to direct food aid, Mr Kaye said WFP last week began giving small amounts of money to families within Yangon Division instead of food. The Cash Transfer Project aims to assist 200,000 people living in urban areas, he said. It was launched at the weekend by WFP’s executive director, Josette Sheeran, during her visit.

“WFP is committed to being resourceful and finding better ways to reach a large number of people who are struggling to put their lives back together. This project allows us to focus our food delivery efforts on the delta, where most food stocks have been destroyed and markets are not functioning properly,” she said.

The project is being undertaken in conjunction with NGO partners Save the Children, World Vision, Terre des Hommes and Care.

Mr Kaye said that it’s only in operation in the worst affected areas of Yangon Division and explained why: “Giving cash to people is only useful when the food markets are working properly.

“Giving people money instead of food gives them the flexibility to buy what they need the most, whether that’s for more food or medicine,” he said.

The program is giving K500 per person, per day, or the amount of money the WFP estimates is needed to buy the equivalent of 2100 kilocalories a day.
The WFP’s ability to transport large amounts of aid into the country received a huge boost on May 24 when Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport was opened by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Every day two Ilyushin 76 and Antonov 12 aircraft are flying aid deliveries from Thailand to Myanmar. “It has expedited the movement of aid and commodities into the country in a much more manageable way.

“It lets us bring in aid to Thailand where our logistics cluster is able to determine the critical items that need to be flown into Myanmar first.
A further boost to the aid effort was the belated arrival of the WFP’s fleet of Puma and Mi-8 helicopters, which have been transported from all over the world to Thailand and were expected to arrive in Yangon on June 6.

Mr Kaye said they have now been reconfigured to carry aid and have undergone their obligatory flight tests.

One helicopter has already been operating in Myanmar for the past week.
Mr Kaye thanked both Australia and Canada for their assistance in transporting them to Thailand. “Australia and Canada have been major contributors to us being able to get these helicopters here.

Funding for the helicopters will be taken from the US$50 million allocated for the Cyclone Nargis relief logistics.

“We don’t envisage the helicopters being here for the full six months but they are clearly essential now in order to get critically needed supplies to the harder to reach areas of the delta. Invariably helicopters are most useful at the front end of relief efforts until we’re able to establish more cost effective supply lines.

Acquiring enough food for the six-month project also looms as a challenge.
“We remain committed to purchasing all of our rice locally but at the moment we have to consider the negative impacts that bulk purchasing could have on local markets,” Mr Kaye said.

“However, the Minister for Commerce has agreed to support our procurement of 20,000 tonnes or rice, plus a certain amount of beans, pulses and salt that we need,” he said.

“But it’s not sufficient for the full six-month pipeline as we need a total of 65,000 tonnes of food commodities rice for this,” he said.

Mr Kaye added that the WFP has already contacted the government to cover this shortfall by importing rice.

“We have formally requested government approval to import rice to ensure the integrity of our operation.”