Food assistance continues in times of crisis

34-year-old Veronika Kakuhu is an unemployed woman living in a household with 20 people. Among these include her parents as well as several brothers and sisters. Veronika completed grade 7 and resides in the Kaguni village,  in the Kapakp constituency in the Kavango West region of Namibia. She survives by selling woodcrafts and is also involved in subsistence farming. Unfortunately, as a result of the drought, her family has not been able to harvest much from their fields.

Through the partnership and support of USAID and the Government of China, World Food Programme (WFP) Namibia is delivering assistance to drought affected communities in the Kavango East, Kavango West, Oshana, Omusati, Oshikoto, Omaheke, Kunene and Zambezi Regions. Veronika and her family are among the  379, 308 beneficiaries targeted to benefit from WFP's ongoing drought response programme amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Veronika and her family receive  five (10 kg) bags of maize meal, 7 kg of beans, and 2 litres of cooking oil. She is very happy with the treatment she gets from Cooperating Partner (Red Cross) and thanks WFP for facilitating the receipt of this assistance. Globally, WFP is set to address the food and nutrition needs of 87 million people in the year 2020.

When vulnerable households have access to food, they are able to do their part in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 by staying home. In Namibia this food assistance is a lifeline to many families and communities like Veronika.

Veronika says,"I am very happy we started getting assistance since January, I don't work and at least my children, family and I have something to eat. I am very happy about the maize especially, we never thought we were going to survive this drought, but WFP has given us joy.  The people and organisation providing this assistance should continue doing so and God will repay them. For an unemployed person like me, this is a great relief."