OTTAWA – World government pledges of food aid this year are down from last year and substantially below the need, says the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Falling support for food aid programs comes as needs grow in war-torn areas of Africa and Europe.
The FAO has reported that by the beginning of the year, 53 countries have pledged the equivalent of $803 million in food aid or funds.
It represents close to 54 percent of the goal of $2 billion, according to the UN agency. Last year, pledges of $1.6 billion reached 75 percent of the target.
Pledges for the international emergency food reserve this year also have fallen off badly, as have pledges of supplies to feed long-term refugee populations.
Fewer countries
By March, just nine countries had pledged 388,000 tonnes of food to the reserve, used as a source of supplies to rush into developing emergencies.
Last year, almost 1.2 million tonnes was pledged to the food reserve. For long-term refugee populations, pledges this year total 267,000 tonnes compared to 950,000 tonnes last year, according to FAO figures.
