Photo Courtesy/WFP

The United Nations World Food Program  will provide voucher to the tune of $5 million  in food assistance to the most vulnerable people including the elderly and lactating mothers across the country.

Mary Helen, the World Food Program Country director said the UN food agency was working with 5000 groups of farmers in Yambio to deliver the supplies.

She said the target is to double last year’s 22 metric tons of the food purchase from local farmers.

“We are working with more than 5000 groups of farmers in Yambio to connect with school needs. we want to increase the amount from 22 metric tons next year,” announced  Hellen in the state-own TV, SSBC

For his part, the acting minister of Foreign Affairs, Deng Dau saID the beneficiaries are mainly elderly people, lactating mothers and vulnerable families.

They will use UN provided cards to obtain the food aid from the designated farmers’ shops where the food agency will later pay in cash.

“According to her, that money is the tune of $5million and this is what will be given to vulnerable people like old age, Lactating mothers,

“So,  the UN will give [beneficiaries] cards which will be used to buy food from shops and then UN pays these particular shops,” he added.

In June last year, the world food program purchased more than 22 thousand metric tons of sorghum from local farmers in Renk County of Upper Nile.

The Head of the WFP Field Office in Renk, Leonidance Andrew Rugemalila, said WFP had paid more than 7 million US dollars to the local farmers and suppliers to secure the sorghum consignment last year.