- The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) warned
on Thursday that the numbers of Zimbabweans needing food aid would rise
dramatically before the end of the year as the effects of a severe drought
in the region worsened.
-
- "Zimbabwe is facing an unprecedented food catastrophe,
which will ripple throughout the region," it said, warning of the
effects of Robert Mugabe's land reform policy.
-
- In February, the WFP launched an emergency food relief
operation to feed about 560,000 rural Zimbabweans. But it has warned that
hunger and malnutrition in the region are worsening, particularly in neighbouring
Malawi and Zambia, as crops fail and prices of staple foods soar.
-
- The UN agency feeds about 2.6m people in southern Africa.
Emergency food operations supply about 300,000 people in Malawi and 1.3m
in Zambia. But it expects the number of people in the region requiring
food relief to double over the coming months.
-
- The demand for imports of maize by the countries in the
14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries has risen
sharply this year as a result of bad weather. The regional grouping imported
1.4m tonnes last year but it requires 3.2m tonnes this year to make up
the falls in domestic production.
-
- The WFP is attempting to attract donor attention to what
it expects will develop into a spreading humanitarian crisis in the region.
But neither South Africa nor Botswana have recorded large movements of
hungry people across the borders with their neighbours. Nor have acute
shortages of staple foods and their escalating prices translated into widespread
popular protest and political upheaval.
-
- As yet, urban populations are weathering the shortages.
Rural communities are considered more vulnerable but they have also shown
an ability to adapt their subsistence diet.
-
- The WFP blamed Zimbabwe's food shortages on poor rainfall
and a reduction in planting by commercial farming enterprises resulting
from President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reform programme.
-
- "Land acquisitions in Zimbabwe have had a dramatic
effect on the amount [of food] that should have been produced in the country.
In many cases, there are no staple foods available at all. Sugar and vegetable
oil are beginning to disappear," said Judith Lewis, WFP's regional
director for east and southern Africa.
-
- Overall food production has fallen by 40 per cent in
Zimbabwe this year, according to crop estimates by SADC. Production by
the commercial farming sector is down 25 per cent.
-
- One of the worst hit crops is maize. Maize production
is expected to fall 70 per cent this year, requiring the import of about
2m tonnes of maize.
-
- The wheat crop is similarly badly affected. The Commercial
Farmers Union has warned that 500,000 tonnes of wheat will need to be imported
in 2003 if a full crop is not planted in May.
-
- Lack of foreign currency and the implementation of price
controls to make affordable food available have also aggravated Zimbabwe's
food shortages.
-
- "The government does not have enough money to import
food and has a monopoly on open markets by controlling prices. It's increasingly
difficult for private traders to do business in Zimbabwe," Ms Lewis
said.
-
- The WFP's efforts to bring food relief to Zimbabwe have
been hampered by government interference and the tense political climate
surrounding Mr Mugabe's bid to extend his 22-year rule in elections last
month.
-
- The Mugabe regime initially resisted the WFP's choice
of non-governmental organisations - which include Care Canada, World Vision
and Christian Care - to distribute food aid.
-
-
- http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=
|
