The Chinese government has provided two batches of food aid totaling 443.2 million yuan to the Horn of Africa countries. The Commerce Department's Foreign Assistance Division I counselor, Yingshould Fu, accepted this reporter's interview on the 17th and said that the Chinese government decided that the total amount of these two groups of food aid to the Horn of Africa region reached 443.2 million yuan, or about $68.7 million dollars. At the end of July, the Commerce Department began the implementation of food aid, with these food aids both through bilateral channels to the affected countries and refugee-receiving countries, as well as by United Nations agencies and other multilateral channels; including both in-kind food assistance and cash contributions.
Yingshould Fu said: "Food will be delivered to the affected areas. $16 million of food aid in cash will go to Somalia, which is due to the special circumstances of the situation in Somalia and the inaccessibility through the existing channels of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for purchasing food and distributing it to Somali victims." To ensure that food arrives in the disaster area as soon as possible, the Ministry of Commerce and the relevant governments are seizing communication and coordination, negotiating and determining the grain varieties, specifications, and mode of transport, aiming to ship within a month or so to Africa, so that the affected people can benefit as soon as possible.
Yingshould Fu said: "By the end of September, our government’s assistance to the Horn of Africa region's first batch of food will arrive in the area by sea, fully shipped to disaster areas." At the same time, closely follow the development and changes of the Horn of Africa region disaster, timely next assistance program. According to the needs of recipient countries, see if these countries need anything else, such as water, medicines, temporary shelter, according to our ability to provide some help.
Over the years, through the dispatch of technical personnel, establishing Agricultural Technology Centers, China has conducted extensive cooperation with African countries in the field of agriculture, making important contributions to promoting national food security in Africa. Yingshould Fu counselor said that in the future, we will continue to do our utmost to help African countries improve their food security situation.
Yingshould Fu said: "To help African countries increase grain production, enhance agricultural self-development capacity." In the future, the Chinese government will further increase investment, working with the African people and the international community to alleviate food shortages and difficulties in the African region, striving to achieve food security.
The Horn of Africa includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda, East African countries near the equator, facing food shortages due to the lack of rain for a long time. This year, the region suffered severe drought, the worst in 60 years, with about 12.2 million local people suffering from hunger and millions of people having drinking water problems. Especially in Somalia, the situation is very serious. On July 20, the United Nations announced that part of the region had entered a famine state, which is the first time the United Nations officially announced famine in Africa since the 1984 Ethiopian famine.