TNT Express today uplifted 45 tons of emergency food aid to Nairobi, Kenya, to help the UnitedNations World Food Programme (WFP) feed thousands of children in neighboring Somalia.
A Boeing 767 aircraft containing more than 3,000 boxes of supplementary plumpy, a nutritionproduct for malnourished children, took off today at 10.30 CET from its hub in Liege, Belgium. Theplane was expected to land in Nairobi today at around 19.00 CET. The aid arriving in Kenyawill be moved later to the affected areas in Somalia for distribution.
Today’s shipment should enable the WFP to treat 6,000 malnourished children for three monthsas part of the agency’s programme to feed 1.5 million people in Somalia. Supplementary plumpy, apeanut-based paste packed with vitamins, can be eaten straight from the bag without added water, arare resource in drought-stricken Somalia. The sweet paste provides 500 calories per each 92-gram(3.25 ounces) sachet. The recommended daily dose of supplementary plumpy is about 75 kcal / day /kg, or 1 sachet per day for a child weighing 7 kg.
The United Nations has declared famine in five regions of Somalia and the number of people inneed of lifesaving assistance is now 3.7 million, out of a population of 7.5 million. WFP isalready feeding 1.5 million people in the northern and central parts of Somalia and in Mogadishuwhich continues to fill up with those fleeing the famine zone. More than 2 million people in needof food aid are currently inaccessible because of insecurity.
TNT Express has been a transport and logistics partner of WFP since 2002, offering in-kindsupport in the form of airlifts, warehouses and logistics experts.
