U.S donates 240 metric tonnes of vegetable oil for refugees

The United States government through its Agency for International Development (USAID) donated 240 metric tonnes of vegetable oil to refugees in South Sudan and Uganda.

World Food Program (WFP)—which received a donation worth over $500,000—said the support which is meant for the refugees who fled conflict from their countries to South Sudan and Uganda was also financial.

In a statement seen by The City Review yesterday, the Regional Director for the World Food Programme (WFP), Michael Dunford, said aid pipeline provides help where it had not existed before.

He said the donation was important not only for the value of the food going to refugees, but also represents a different way of packaging and delivery.

“As we try to reduce wastage en route and reduce WFP’s carbon footprint. This means a lot for us to provide food to the refugees in the two countries,” said Dunford.

“East Africa is on the front line of climate change, and floods in South Sudan have uprooted the lives of millions of impoverished farmers and townspeople. The aid pipeline provides help where none would otherwise exist,” he added.

Regional Logistics Officer for World Food Programme (WFP), Barbara Vanlogchem, said they are creating economic impact in Uganda by outsourcing packaging to a local supplier as opposed to importing it already packaged.

 “If scaled up, it will be economically beneficial to the Ugandans as they will earn money though we are grateful for the generosity and consistency of the U.S. government,” he said.

According to the WFP officer, shipments in bulk provide cost efficiencies by reducing transit damages and allowing packaging in sizes suited to given contexts, such as a refugee camp.

He said the oil shipment will be transported from the USA to Mombasa in 12 shipping containers fitted with flexitanks. Then the WFP’s Kenyan Country Office will transfer the oil to Kampala where it will be packaged into 900ml bottles for onward delivery to support aid operations in South Sudan.

Food aids

In September 2021 European Union also donated $13.8 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) South Sudan to mitigate the hunger crisis that could be facing over three million people.

Matthew Hollingworth, WFP’s Country Director in South Sudan said earlier that United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was grateful for an additional contribution of €11.6 million from the European Union (EU) to provide emergency food assistance to 3.9 million people at risk of famine in South Sudan this year

He empathised with the families that had been displaced due to tensions and the ongoing flooding that continues to create a crisis.