1,400 Sumba residents face food shortages

Around 1,400 residents of Laijanji village, East Sumba regency, East Nusa Tenggara, are suffering from food shortages due to crop failure.

In addition to harvest shortages in paddy fields, residents are also running out of cassava, a local staple food typically harvested before the rainy season.

They are now depending on raskin (rice for the poor) distributed by a local administration.

Laijanji village head Ga’ba Mehang Jawa said Wednesday pests had made paddy harvests impossible, leading to food shortages.

“We are still facing food shortages due to the harvest failure,” he said as quoted by tribunnews.com. (iwa)