Food Crisis Hits East Nusa Tenggara

By Barrie | April 6th, 2007 | No Comments

A serious food crisis has hit Timor Tengah Utara regency in East
Nusa Tenggara, where up to 7,744 families in five districts are at risk of famine due to harvest failures. The food crisis has forced many residents to turn to the forest to find alternative food sources after pests and prolonged drought destroyed their harvest.

Timor Tengah Utara Deputy Regent Raymundus Fernandez said the regency was seriously hit by food shortages because the region had had little rain in recent months.

“Thousands of hectares of rice fields are suffering from harvest failure. The government plans to distribute rice for a straight 12 months as food supplies are critical,” said. He said the administration had started distributing 20 kg of rice to each house in the five worst-hit districts.

“The assistance is the second in the last three months,” he said, adding that the ongoing food crisis was the worst in the past 40 years, raising fears it might trigger malnutrition cases among infants and children.

The five worst-hit districts are Biboki Anleu, Biboki Selatan, Insana Utara, Biboki Utara and Miomafo Barat 442.