About 13,000 families in southern Somalia are set to benefit from a European Union grant worth one million ECU to relieve acute food shortages due to long-running conflict. The problems of the people affected have been compounded by floods, the withdrawal of United Nations troops, and the frequent closure of Mogadishu port.

The grant, made available through the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), will help families in the very fertile Juba area to stay in the valley, rather than moving into over-stretched cities that cannot support them. ECHO will work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on this project, which will last three months.

The plan is to deliver dry food and seeds to families in need. The food will be bought locally, and transported from Mogadishu. To ensure that as much food as possible reaches the beneficiaries, traders will collect receipts at the point of delivery and exchange them for cash in Mogadishu or Kenya. New supplies of seeds should help replenish resources washed away in flooding.