Hundreds of tons of ready-to-eat therapeutic food are being distributed in drought-hit Ethiopia as part of efforts by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to help a majority of the estimated 75,000 severely malnourished children in the country.
UNICEF said Tuesday it has ordered 772 tons of Plumpy'Nut, a peanut-based paste that requires no cooking or preparation and can be packaged easily, for distribution in more than 100 drought-affected districts.
The food, which has been arriving in Addis Ababa over the past three weeks, will be delivered to regional health bureaux and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) through an airlift operation of two cargo flights per week over a four-week period.
UNICEF estimates that the supplies of Plumpy'Nut, which were bought with loans secured as part of the emergency response to the drought, will benefit nearly 19,000 children per month for the next three months.
Overall, UN humanitarian agencies are seeking at least 325 million U.S. dollars from the international community for their Ethiopian relief programs as a result of the drought.
Source:Xinhua
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