Mugabe accepts food aid
2005-06-01 20:43
Harare - A top UN official said on Wednesday that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe would welcome food aid from donors as his country grapples with a growing food shortage blamed on drought.
James Morris, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that the 81-year-old head of state had emphasized his country would welcome the aid if it came with "a humanitarian commitment".
Earlier this month Mugabe announced through his spokesperson that he would hold talks with Morris, who is also UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special humanitarian envoy to southern Africa.
Mugabe said at the time his country would only accept food aid that came without political strings attached.
Harare is sensitive to any criticism of its controversial five-year-old programme of seizing white-owned land to give to new black farmers.
Aid agencies say the programme has slashed agricultural production in this country, once considered the region's breadbasket.
"We've had a good conversation," Morris said after his meeting with Mugabe.
"We've talked about ways that the United Nations could be helpful to countries in the region, specifically to Zimbabwe as it looks to its own responsibility to address issues of hunger, nutrition and health care," he said.
The scale of Zimbabwe's crisis still remains unclear.
The government says at least 2.8 million out of the country's 11.6 million people require food aid due to poor harvests caused by drought.
But aid agencies say up to five million are in need of help.
Last year Mugabe refused to appeal for international food assistance, claiming his country had produced a bumper harvest.
But the government admits this year that Zimbabwe will need to import most of the 1.8 million tons of the staple maize needed to feed humans and livestock.
- SAPA