Piracy slows food aid to Somalia

For a piece on some of the consequences of Somali piracy, read this:

The UN's World Food Programme on Sunday delivered its first aid shipment to starving Somalis since pirates prowling its lawless coast forced them to take a dangerous and slow land route.

The 14-truck convoy arrived in Wajid, a barren and scrubby town in south-central Somalia, after a 13-day trip from the Kenyan port of Mombasa N a route the aid trucks have not taken in four years because of the cost and difficulty.

WFP operations in Somalia were sabotaged this year by the hijacking of two ships carrying food, which forced the UN food agency to opt for an equally treacherous and longer route over land.