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WFP Emergency Report No. 45 of 2005
World Food Programme (WFP)
November 04, 2005

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6HW32Y?OpenDocument&rc=1&cc=zwe

Zimbabwe
(a) Ongoing food insecurity continues to affect all regions of the country. Increased prices and shortages of maize, as well as shortages of fuel are worsening the situation. People are resorting to eating wild food. In the District of Kariba, local authorities have confirmed the death of a mother and her five-year old daughter after eating under-cooked tubers and tree pods, which are toxic unless cooked sufficiently. Reports from schools reveal that attendance has dropped as a result of food shortages. WFP food distributions, through cooperating partner Save the Children, began on 4 November.

(b) According to WFP data, the average price of maize grain in October 2005 has increased by 60 per cent in Bulawayo; ZWD 6,143 per kilogram, 54 per cent in Masvingo; ZWD 10,857 per kilogram and 88 per cent in Mutare; ZWD8,571 per kilogram, compared to September 2004 prices. In October, the highest price increase was seen in Masvingo, where the price rose to ZWD 8,000 per kilogram in the first week of October compared to ZWD 12,571 per kilogram in the last week.

(c) During the week, food distributions under WFP's planned Vulnerable Group Feeding programme began in four Districts of Matabeleland, five Districts of Manicaland, two Districts of Mashonaland, and four Districts of Masvingo Province. In other areas, WFP and cooperating partners continued to finalize beneficiary registrations while encountering challenges as communities insisted that more people should receive food assistance. WFP's criteria for vulnerable group feeding targets those with no means of self-support, households with chronically ill member(s), child or elderly-headed households, and households with a large dependency ration catering to orphans and other vulnerable individuals.

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