United Nations Radio

Food security in Iraq has improved, according to a joint assessment by the Iraqi government and the World Food Programme.

WFP says the number of Iraqis without adequate access to food fell from around four million in 2005 to 930 thousand last year.

The WFP office in the country has cautiously welcomed the findings stressing that 930 thousand hungry people is still far too many for a wealthy country like Iraq. And if it were not for government safety nets, the office warns, more than 6 million people would slide into food insecurity.

In addition the report finds that despite an improvement in acute malnutrition rates, children in five districts still show alarming rates of stunting.

WFP is currently providing food assistance to the most vulnerable, or about half of the 1.5 million people displaced inside Iraq, who do not have access to government rations. The report recommends that this assistance be continued while the government reforms its Public Distribution System.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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