Libya’s food chain at risk of collapse, warns UN agency

THE UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday warned that Libya’s food supply chain was “at risk of collapsing“, as aid agencies raised fears that many people were trapped inside the country.

“Libya is a net food importer and the food supply chain is at risk of collapsing,” WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella told journalists, as imports were not reaching ports and distribution around the country was reportedly hampered by violence.

“They do have limited production of wheat, barley and olives mainly in a small area around Benghazi, but that is not enough to meet the population’s needs,” she added.

While the WFP was not delivering food aid in Libya before the turmoil, a supply corridor from the northeastern coastal city of Benghazi across the desert for 260,000 people in Chad was halted after ships were diverted because of the turmoil in Libya.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it feared that many people who wanted to flee the country, especially Libyans, were trapped.

“We are concerned that there are large numbers of people who would like to flee but who are trapped,” said UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming, following reports from foreign workers who had fled.

Fleming said there had been a very small number of Libyan refugees who fled to Tunisia from villages near the border.

“We’re getting accounts from people coming over that the journey is terrifying, that they’re being harassed on the way, they are being robbed of all their possessions, they’re coming with just the clothes off their backs,” she explained.

“Libyans in particular are being hindered, particularly if you are coming from further inside the country” she told journalists.

About 22,000 people have fled to Tunisia, according to Tunisian government figures cited by the UNHCR.

Another 15,000 migrants have reached Egypt, the International Organisation for Migration said based on figures from Thursday.

Casella warned that if people and vehicles couldn’t move around Libya “then it affects the ability to supply the country”.

The WFP was drawing up contingency plans to provide food inside Libya “if and when the security situation allows,” she added.