LIBYA EMERGENCY: ACTED to respond to food shortages in Misrata

MISRATA [ACTED News] – As fighting intensifies in Misrata, leading to a displacement of the near entire population of the city, the population is being faced with a bread shortage, that ACTED is striving to address.

ACTED aims at supporting local bakeries with distributions of flour to be supplied by the the World Food Programme’s (WFP) to answer the food needs of local vulnerable populations.

As a result of the full blockade of Misrata, the food shortage has been chronic. The city has a limited supply of basic food items, and some important items have been in shortage, including bread.

It is reported that there are only 15 metric tons of wheat flour in the city, whereas the city’s needs have been evaluated by the National Transitional Council at 3,000 metric tons per month. ACTED teams will deliver 350 kilograms of salt and nearly 1 metric ton of yeast, to be followed by deliveries of flour by the WFP in the upcoming days.

Many bakeries have been closing their doors because of the lack of flour and rationing of bread. Long queues of people were observed around bakeries.

ACTED has also been charged by the international community to take part in the coordination of humanitarian interventions, thanks to the REACH project. Through detailed security reports, geographic mapping and capacity building, ACTED is providing the only detailed information bulletin on the security situation to all NGOs, United Nations agencies and the National Transitional Council, based in Benghazi.