UN food agency says extending West Africa operations

(SomaliNet) In an effort to feed an extra 1,4-million people in the region hit hard by rising food prices, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it is expanding operations in West Africa.

The new beneficiaries are in addition to the 3,6-million people the WFP had planned to assist in Guinea, Mauritania, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Senegal in 2008.

\"West Africa is a chronically vulnerable region, highly dependent on food imports,\" the UN food aid agency said in a statement.

\"Increased fuel prices and poor harvests influenced by floods and droughts are an additional challenge.\"

Meanwhile in rural Guinea Conakry, many families are surviving on mangoes and cassava, it said.

In the past six months, food costs for WFP operations in West Africa have risen by almost 60 percent, while overall operational costs are 30 percent higher, the United Nations has said.

Increased fuel prices have also pushed up transportation costs, as many regions in need of assistance are landlocked.-AFP