Unicef: Food prices 'aggravate Lesotho woes'

01/07/2008

Unicef has warned that the tiny enclave of Lesotho is reeling from the effects of rising global food prices.

The country, landlocked in the middle of South Africa, is already one of the most impoverished places in the world, suffering from chronic malnutrition and a 23 per cent HIV prevalence rate.

And now the World Food Programme (WFP) has revealed that the price of maize-based meals - a staple food in Lesotho - has increased by over 55 per cent in the past year.

Other essential food items such as vegetable oil and paraffin have also risen in price significantly, spiking by 100 per cent and 80 per cent per cent during the same period.

"Children are already the most vulnerable and at risk in Lesotho," humanitarian news agency IRIN/PlusNews quoted Unicef spokesperson Aberra Bekele as saying.

"The increase in food prices and fuel prices, combined with the end of emergency drought-related relief interventions from donors and government, have resulted in a potentially critical situation."

Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that almost one in four Basotho are currently living with HIV. This not only heightens the importance of maintaining healthy diets, but also increases the number of vulnerable Aids orphans in the country.

Hassan Sheikkh, programme officer at WFP Lesotho, commented: "In a situation such as this, people will be forced to adopt more severe and strange coping strategies - selling already depleted productive assets, skipping meals during the day, [or] migrating."

Less than 11 per cent of mountainous Lesotho is arable and the country has endured consecutive years of drought.


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