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State supplies stale food
Kholwani Nyathi,The Standard (Zimbabwe)
April 15, 2007

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=6309

BULAWAYO - The government reportedly supplied stale "maize soya blend" for a supplementary feeding programme after the city council raised concern about the increasing number of people dying of malnutrition-related medical complications, The Standard has learnt.

According to a report by the Bulawayo city council's health, housing and education committee, 560kg of maize soya blend for feeding children under five years old deemed vulnerable to malnutrition were destroyed after they were found to be "unfit for human consumption" by health inspectors.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare had supplied 500 bags of 10kg soya blend to feed 561 vulnerable children following concerns raised by the city council.

Last month, the council raised concern that more people were dying of malnutrition-related illnesses in the city as a result of the deteriorating economic situation in the country.

The government's intervention was intended to address the problem but the council condemned the food.

"About 56 bags of the blend were inconsumable, as they had weevils and moulds," reads the report. "The health inspectorate declared the blend unfit for consumption and it was destroyed."

The government has declared 2007 a drought year but continues to claim that no one would be allowed to die of hunger as enough grain is being imported to cover the shortfall.

But the Mayor of Bulawayo, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, has said the number of deaths attributed to malnutrition was an indication of worsening urban poverty and appealed to non-governmental organisations to step in.

In its report, the council noted that care givers were reluctant to prepare food, demanding payment for their services.

"Care-givers have been reluctant to come to the clinics to prepare the food, expressing concern that their children were also hungry at home," said the report. "There is a lot of economic pressure forcing the care-givers to seek income- generating projects elsewhere."

The southern parts of the country have been facing serious food shortages since last year, resulting in the emergence of a parallel market in basic commodities.

The council said eight people died of malnutrition in December alone and their ages ranged from the newly born to 70 years.

Malnutrition is caused by lack of a balanced diet.

There was no immediate official comment from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare but a Child Welfare official in Matabeleland North said the council had not informed them that some of the food was stale.

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