It is feared Burma's ruined rice paddies and stored stocks will provide just half the food needed to feed cyclone victims.
Warning that the rest must be imported, the World Food Programme says it is concerned that it will not be able to find all the food it needs for the relief operation.
‘Obviously if we can buy as close to the victims as possible, it helps us enormously’, said World Food Programme spokesman Marcus Prior
The Irrawaddy Delta region obliterated in the disaster is Burma’s most important rice-growing region, and much of the harvest which had just been gathered is feared to have been lost.
With the paddy fields now in ruins, there are also fears that the next planting season will be affected.
‘To feed 750,000 people for three months as planned...will require 55,000 tonnes of rice, of which only 50% can be procured in country, the latest UN report on the crisis said.
Importing rice will require government clearance.
The regime has been condemned for its inept handling of the emergency response, and there are worries that gaining the clearance needed could be problematic.
An experimental foodstuff known as ‘Plumpy nut’, a high-energy, usually peanut-based paste more commonly used for African famine victims, is now being used to feed malnourished survivors.
The UN said that supplies of the highly nutritious food are being flown in to Burma.
In a small breakthrough, the junta permitted a US military plane to land with a cargo of relief supplies yesterday, and another arrived today. A third is expected later in the day.
The ruling junta thanked the US for its help, but remained resolutely opposed to allowing in foreign aid workers who relief groups say are critical to the success of the disaster response.
Official media reported that nearly 32,000 people were killed when the cyclone slammed into the country on 3 May, and the UN has warned that up to 2m people are in desperate need of aid.
