Aid agencies delivering food in PNG Highlands

2:22 pm on 8 June 2016

The emergency response co-ordinator for CARE Australia in Papua New Guinea says tens of thousands of people still need urgent food supplies.

Much of the Highlands, along with other parts of PNG, suffered badly from eight months of severe drought brought by El Nino from the second half of last year.

CARE's Blossom Gilmour said while the rains had returned it could take up to nine months to re-establish crops, and aid agencies were now distributing rice to supplement food supplies.

She said there were about 120,000 people living above 2,000 metres and it was from that height that food growing was much slower.

Ms Gilmour said people had access to some foods, such as cabbage and pumpkin.

"Eating only cabbage and pumpkin as your primary calorie sources is not a very diverse diet, not a very interesting diet and not very nutritious. They are lacking the staple core starches. They have no carbohydrate in their diets right now, so people feel hungry and they are not getting the nutrition they need."

Women and children in Papua New Guinea's Highlands region.

Women and children in Papua New Guinea's Highlands region. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades