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US serves up $20m for Zim food
23/01/2003 13:25 - (SA)
Harare - The United States has announced a new $20m (about R178m) food programme for Zimbabwe to help some of the eight million people threatened by famine.
Addressing a press conference, US ambassador Joseph Sullivan said the latest programme would benefit about 664 700 people in seven Zimbabwean districts.
The donation has been made through the Consortium for the Southern African Famine Emergency (C-Safe) that began a food-aid programme to Zimbabwe this month, Sullivan said.
Emergency food aid has been required in most of the southern African country's 55 districts since last year due to widespread crop failures caused by poor rains and other factors.
Since March 2002, the US government has contributed about 217 000 tons of food to Zimbabwe.
The opposition in Zimbabwe has accused the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party of distributing food along party lines.
Only 30% of land under crops
Sullivan said efforts by his government, the WFP and non-governmental organisations "have assured that the overwhelming bulk of food distributions from the United States and other international partners have been distributed fairly".
He expressed concern at the "low amounts of plantings in food crops and the inevitable effect this will have on food availability".
The United Nations food agency estimates that only 30% of Zimbabwe's productive land has been put under cultivation this year.
The C-Safe programme is also being run in Zambia and Malawi, two other countries in the southern African region hard-hit by a famine that is threatening a total of 15.4 million people. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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