DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Food Programme (WFP) on Saturday appealed to international donors to support its refugee operations Tanzania.

"In 2019, WFP is facing a shortfall of 40 million U.S. dollars in its refugee operations in Tanzania," Michael Dunford, the WFP Representative for Tanzania, told Xinhua in an interview.

Tanzania currently hosts 285,078 refugees in three camps in northwest Tanzania. This number fluctuates depending on emergencies in neighboring countries and repatriation from the camps.

Dunford said donor contributions to WFP Tanzania came in both the form of cash and in-kind commodities.

"Cash contributions enable WFP to procure some of the food commodities locally, which helps boost agriculture in the country," said Dunford.

Apart from buying directly from Tanzania, said Dunford, WFP also contributed to the Tanzanian economy by using local companies for the handling, storage and transportation of food for refugees.

Dunford said WFP food assistance in the camps also includes a supplementary feeding program to provide additional nutrition support to pregnant and lactating women, children under five years old and hospital in-patients.

"In addition, hot meals are served to newly arriving refugees at transit and reception centers, and high energy biscuits are provided to those in transit," he added.