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TANZANIA: US $ 50 MILLION PLEDGED BY DONORS FOR RELIEF FOOD February 15, 2006
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) In response to the plea for relief food by theTanzanian government, the international community has pledged 50 million U.S. dollars to help save the situation. Xinhua reported Wednesday.
Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa revealed the figure while addressing the National Assembly in Dodoma. Lowassa said that Dares Salaam-based foreign diplomats had showed readiness to help and money had already started to trickle in. Meanwhile the Belgian government has pledged 250,000 euros (297,375 dollars) while an international mobile phone company Vodacom has already offered 1 billion Tanzanian shillings (850,000 dollars) to the Tanzanian president. The money will be used to purchase and distribute relief food.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has directed immediate imports of 42,000 tons of relief food.
On Monday, the Tanzanian government formally asked the international community to contribute 100,000 tons of relief food for 3,764,843 people in 618,816 households that were at risk of famine and these people needed 99,676 tons of relief food between now and April.The Tanzanian National Food Security Information Team provided the figures Tanzania now has 57,620 tons of relief food in stock in its Strategic Grain Reserves.