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Zimbabwe
desperate for food, says WFP
Tendai
Mukandi, The Independent (Zimbabwe)
July
29, 2006
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=4594&siteid=1
ZIMBABWE is in
desperate need of food aid as a majority of its poor cannot feed
themselves due to runaway inflation.
Zimbabwe is grouped
along with Zambia and Malawi among countries needing urgent food
assistance, according to the World Food Programme.
Speaking at the
handover of 30 million euros (US$37,7 million) in Johannesburg this
week, WFP’s acting regional director, Thomas Yanga, said Zimbabwe’s
inflation was denying the poor access to food. The money was donated
by the European Commission.
"Zimbabwe’s high
inflation rate makes it increasingly difficult for the poorest to
buy any food at all, even when it is available on the market," Yanga
said.
"Many people have
already sold everything they have."
Zimbabwe got the
biggest portion of the donation of 25 million euro ahead of Malawi
and Zambia.
"Twenty-five
million euro (US$31,4 million) has gone towards maintaining urgent
food assistance over the next quarter to 800 000 of the most vulnerable
people in Zimbabwe, including children threatened with malnourishment
and patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy," the WFP said in
a statement. Malawi was allocated 3 million euros (US$3,8 million)
while Zambia got two million euros (US$2,5 million).
The WFP is the
largest humanitarian agency providing food assistance to an average
90 million people worldwide to meet their nutritional needs each
year, including 58 million hungry children in at least 80 of the
world’s poorest countries.
The donation is
part of the EC’s 105 million euro donation towards WFP operations
worldwide for 2006.
Although preliminary
reports released last month indicated that the region as a whole
had a better 2005/2006 harvest, Yanga said people would still go
hungry this year if they were not given food assistance. He cited
the utbreak of major diseases like HIV/Aids and chronic poverty
as some of the factors affecting productivity.
"Patients being
treated for HIV/Aids or tuberculosis cannot farm or hold a job when
they are at their weakest. Similarly, children who are orphaned
or caring for sick parents need help to put food on the table.
And mothers with young children need assistance to maintain healthy
diets during their most critical development stage," Yanga said.
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