UN announces program to help hunger hot spots

A UN agency rolled out a $ 214 million program Tuesday to help 16 needy places hit hard by high prices for food and oil, amid a crisis already making it hard for aid groups to provide enough food for the world’s hungry.

The World Food Program said almost 1 billion poor people around the world are struggling to survive amid the higher prices. The agency is trying to reach those in critical need of assistance in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

“Food prices are not abating, and the world’s most vulnerable have exhausted their coping strategies”, said Josette Sheeran, the agency’s executive director. “Our action plan is targeted and customized to help the most vulnerable meet their urgent needs.”

The plan will provide assistance to groups such as pregnant women, undernourished children and people living in urban areas affected most by the food crisis.

The Rome-based agency also hopes to cut transportation costs and help support farmers in countries where emergency food can be bought locally.

But the agency already faces “obstacles” in procuring food, particularly when trying to buy supplies locally, spokeswoman Brenda Barton said.

“At the markets we have been buying food it has become just too expensive”, Barton told The Associated Press by telephone. And she added: “a lot of markets just don’t have any food to buy.”

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