The Swedish Government through Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, has decided to provide support to drought affected people in the central and western regions of Tanzania with the amount of Swedish Kronor 15 million, approximately 2.1billion Tanzanian Shillings .The Swedish support will be channelled through the World Food Program (WFP): SEK 12 million approx. Tsh.1.7 billion, for food aid and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): SEK 3 million approx.Tsh 438 million for seeds and fertilizer. The decision was taken by Sida on November 27 and will be drawn from the Swedish Country allocation for Tanzania 2003.The Swedish support is in response to an appeal made in October by the Government of Tanzania to the donor community, requesting financial assistance to drought affected areas. According to the vulnerability assessment of June 2003, 1.939 million people will require emergency food assistance as major food staples have been adversely affected by climatic conditions.For further information, please contact Jane Kibbassa, Programme Officer, Natural Resources or Doris Lema, Management Secretary and Information Officer at the Swedish Embassy, tel. 022-2111 235.