CARACAS: The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) and Venezuelan officials said on Monday they had reached a deal to supply food to school children in the South American country suffering a humanitarian crisis spurred by an economic collapse.

The program will reach 185,000 children in the crisis-stricken country this year, and aims to expand to some 1.5 million by the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the WFP said in a statement. Child malnutrition has increased in Venezuela as the once-prosperous country's economy collapsed.