wfn.org | ACT Responds to Drought and Floods in Tanzania

[Frank Imhoff <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 20, 1998

ACT RESPONDS TO DROUGHT AND FLOODS IN TANZANIA
98-060-AH

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Nearly four million people in Tanzania face an
acute food shortage, reports Action by Churches Together (ACT).  Drought in
1996 and 1997 followed by floods in 1997 and 1998 have affected crops, and
the number of people needing food assistance is likely to increase,
according to ACT.
     Flooding has cut off road and railway access to regions which faced
food shortages due to drought, ACT reports.  Travel is hardly possible over
major roads linking one town to another.  With the flow of commercial food
restricted, prices in local markets have become higher than people with
average income can afford.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches, including those of the
Lutheran World Federation, meeting human need through coordinated emergency
response.  ACT needs $528,000 to accomplish its goals in Tanzania.
     Through partners in Tanzania ACT plans to increase the availability
of food in flood-affected areas.  ACT will supply corn and beans, blankets,
plastic sheeting, emergency shelter materials and other essential
assistance.
     ACT seeks to increase the capacity of local churches to make local
resources available to people affected by the disaster.  The affected area
includes the North Western Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Tanzania.
     Repair work on roads and railways will improve the movement of
commodities among regions.  ACT reports that the food situation should
improve in the early summer, if there is a harvest at that time.
     ACT will focus on helping school children, an especially vulnerable
group.  Due to the acute food shortage, students fail to attend classes and
some are forced to hire themselves into the adult labor market in order to
obtain money to buy food.
     Health and medical conditions are worsening due to unsafe drinking
water, inadequate daily diet and the lack of sanitation, according to ACT.
Another factor affecting the health situation is standing and stagnant
water which forms a breeding ground for mosquitos.  Widespread malaria is
expected, as is cholera and diarrhea.
     ACT intends to reach "highly vulnerable" people who have not been
covered by other food assistance, especially subsistence farmers in rural
areas.  With their lives disrupted by the flooding, people are coping with
the situation by selling their assets, such as cattle, migrating to other
places to live with relatives and building makeshift shelters on higher
ground, ACT reports.
     The Lutheran World Federation is a worldwide communion of 124
Lutheran church bodies, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html