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'Food crisis beyond imagination' - Gasela
Tichaona Sibanda, SW Radio Africa
September 07, 2007

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news070907/food070907.htm

Agriculture expert Renson Gasela predicted on Friday that many people will die in the country if food shortages are allowed to continue unresolved. 'They will be slain by one of the cruelest weapons of any era, starvation. They will die slowly and painfully. They will die hungry,' said Gasela a former chief executive of the Grain Marketing Board.

Gasela, who is now a leading opposition figure with the Mutambara led MDC, said the creation of mass starvation had little to do with the work of nature but was largely the work of man.

'Drought and crop failures have not gone unnoticed. Donor agencies have pledged hundreds of thousands of tons of foodstuffs. NGO's are ready to allocate the food. But all that separates millions of malnourished Zimbabweans from the food that could save their lives is a handful of stubborn men: Mugabe and his Zanu-PF,' Gasela said.

He said Zanu-PF is more intent on winning the next general election than feeding the people, adding that if people die this time, it is not going to be because of the drought but because of the economy and political situation.

'People might say we are exaggerating but I can see many deaths happening this year. There is absolutely no food. Individuals have no food. The GMB has no food. The imports that are supposed to come are not there because there is no foreign currency to import food,' he said.

In his constituency of Gweru rural, people were surviving on wild fruits and berries. Gasela warned that if nothing is done there is going to be a disaster. The current crisis has been worsened by that fact even those with money cannot find food to buy.

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