Windhoek — Egypt yesterday officially donated rice and cooking oil to the Namibian Government for distribution to thousands of people who were affected by floods and face hunger.

Second Secretary at the Egyptian Embassy, Hani Hamid, handed over three containers, two filled with 1200 bags of rice and one with 275 cartons of cooking oil to the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Libertina Amathila, in the capital.

The donation worth N$750000 is in response to President Hifikepunye Pohamba's SOS to the international community early this year to step in and render assistance to Namibia after floods displaced thousands of people and destroyed crop fields.

"This is a token of African solidarity between the two countries. It is in response to the call made by President Hifikepunye Pohamba early this year," said Hamid.

Since the call, donations in different forms have poured into the country.

The Deputy Premier is expected to give a report on how much in terms of financial assistance and in kind, Namibia has received from donors and other countries.

She estimated financial assistance to be over N$5 million from February until May this year.

"Floods affected many and people lost their livelihoods and we will have to feed them for the next six to nine months. This donation came at the right time and it shows that Namibia has friends," said Amathila.

She added that thousands of people will struggle in terms of food until the next harvest.

Deputy Director of the Emergency Management Unit (EMU) in the Office of the Prime Minister, Gabriel Kangowa, described the response from the international community as good.

"The donations have helped Namibia a lot. People are no longer in the camps where they were temporarily sheltered during the floods. They have gone back to their homes and this is the hardest time for the people because there is no food," Kangowa said.

Government has been distributing food to communities in regions that were badly affected by floods since last month.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the distribution exercise is going well. The distribution comes after the Government availed N$30 million to purchase food items being distributed to households displaced by floods in the Cuvelai flood system and the eastern parts of the Caprivi Region.

This month, a countrywide food distribution programme is expected to start.

The Comprehensive Emergency Food Scheme with N$228753940 set aside by the Government is estimated to benefit 523633 people facing hunger.