Haiti: WFP Fears Depletion of Food Stocks

On Thursday, the World Food Program (WFP) in Haiti said that it fears that its stocks will run out this month due to the closure of the port terminal and the current climate of violence in the Caribbean nation.

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"The port in the capital must reopen immediately to bring in new supplies. We also need unimpeded access to transport food across the country to ensure the continuity of our projects," said WFP's director in Haiti, Jean-Martin Bauer.

WFP is doing all it can to reach the most vulnerable, but at the current rate, we will run out of food stocks by the end of April, Bauer said, warning that Haiti is moving closer to famine every day.

"Haitians are on the brink of collapse: one in two people are going hungry today. Rising hunger is exacerbating the country's security crisis. We need urgent action now: waiting to respond to the full scale of this situation is not an option," the WFP director stressed.

He noted that as violence, inflation and poor harvests worsen, so do levels of food insecurity.

Le Nouvelliste newspaper reported that 4.97 million people face higher levels of acute food insecurity, and 1.64 million citizens have already reached emergency status.Violence and unrest hamper the delivery of food and other humanitarian assistance.