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Private
imports easing food shortages
IRIN
News
August 11, 2009
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=85671
Zimbabwe's food
insecurity is being eased by private imports but prices remain high,
making basic commodities unaffordable to many of the few people
who have a job, said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS
NET) Food
Security Outlook released on 7 August.
Food security has greatly
improved since the 2008/09 season, when nearly 7 million people
were receiving food assistance, compared with projections for the
2009/10 period, when an estimated 2 million to 2.4 million people
will require aid.
The UN Food
and Agriculture Organization and UN World Food Programme Crop
and Food Assessment Mission forecast the 2009 cereal harvest
at 1.3 million tons, compared to 690,000 tons in 2008.
A better harvest, lifting
import duties on basic commodities, and the dollarization of the
economy have ameliorated food scarcity, the FEWS NET report said.
The Zimbabwe dollar, which was fuelling hyperinflation, was discontinued
earlier his year.
The use of multiple currencies
- South African rand, Botswana pula and US dollar - coupled with
the introduction of an across-the-board US$100 monthly wage for
government employees in February 2009, has seen market-driven forces
providing the impetus to fill shop shelves. Donor organizations
are also paying medical staff a US$100 monthly stipend.
According to
the Consumer Council
of Zimbabwe, in June 2009 the US$100 monthly salary was only
sufficient for 20 percent of a family's monthly requirements; even
if other essentials, such as health, education, clothing and housing
were discounted, it would only cover about 70 percent of household
food expenses.
Zimbabwe's economy has
been in recession for a decade and around 94 percent of the population
are unemployed; many rely on remittances from family members working
in neighbouring states or further afield in Britain and the US.
"Between January
and June 2009, some basic food items fell by between 30 [percent]
and 60 percent, but prices still remain between three and six times
higher than the five-year average for June [2009]. Between April
and June 2009, maize grain price dropped by 31 percent and maize
flour went down by 15 percent," the report said.
"This decline was
attributed to both improved supply on the market and the good harvest.
In the rural areas, grain prices are even lower than those in urban
areas, with grain selling at US$0.17/kg on average, and between
two times and three times less than urban prices," FEWS NET
noted.
The tax holiday on imported
basic commodities has been extended to the end of the 2009, however;
should the duty be reimposed, this could mean a "reduced supply
of maize-meal on the market lead[ing] to increased prices and reduced
purchasing power for market-dependent households."
Between 500,000 and 900,000
of Zimbabwe's urban population are viewed as food insecure, the
report said, while "about 1.4 million rural people will not
be able to meet their cereal requirements during the 2009/10 consumption
year."
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