Print

Mail

wiki links

UN to resume food aid in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe signed an agreement on Thursday with the UN food agency to feed at least 3 million people after previously denying major shortages in the troubled southern African country.

Relations have been strained since President Robert Mugabe's government told the World Food Program (WFP) and other international organizations to stop large-scale feeding programs last year, saying Zimbabwe can feed itself.

The memorandum of understanding was signed after several weeks of discussions, WFP said in a statement.

It sets out a framework under which food distributions will take place through June, including clarifying government and UN responsibilities.

Differences have emerged in the past with some humanitarian groups accusing the government of withholding food aid from communities that support its political rivals.

"WFP welcomes the signing of this agreement, which will certainly assist in our plans to deliver food aid to hungry people across Zimbabwe," the program's country director Kevin Farrell said in the statement.

drought

Mugabe blames poor harvests on four years of drought, which prompted WFP to start feeding millions across southern Africa in 2002.

But independent economists say chaotic land reform, coupled with government restrictions on the importation and movement of grain, have severely exacerbated the problem in Zimbabwe.

Thousands of white-owned commercial farms have been redistributed to black Zimbabweans in the often violent program that began in 2000, virtually destroying the country's agriculture-based economy.

WFP and its partners distributed food to 2 million Zimbabweans in November and are gearing up to feed more than a million more through their programs for the most vulnerable.

Food surveys in June showed at least 3 million people in the country would need aid during the lean months before the next harvests in April.

But the Mugabe administration acknowledges the number will likely rise because of "very large" price increases in food since June, WFP said.

The agency is particularly concerned about shortages of the staple maize, warning prices have risen between 500 and 700 percent across the country in the past year.

"Many people are experiencing their fourth consecutive year of food shortages and are now surviving on one meal or less a day," the UN agency said.
This story has been viewed 1626 times.