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Zim food crisis to persist
25/02/2003 11:59 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Pre-famine conditions continue to tighten their grip on Zimbabwe, where people in two-thirds of the country
will continue to be food insecure in 2003, said the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) in a recent emergency alert.
"One-third of the adults in Zimbabwe are infected with the Aids virus, a potentially lethal combination whose consequences stretch far beyond the current food emergency," the alert said.
Maize imports lag behind consumption requirements and supplies on rural markets are erratic, inadequate and expensive.
Over one million tons of maize will need to be imported by Zimbabwe during the 2003/04 marketing year.
Annual inflation as of January reached 208% as food staples and other necessities are increasingly scarce or out of reach of poor consumers, the FEWS NET said.
Urban Zimbabweans face rising unemployment as well as wage freezes, the report said.
Zimbabwe's 2002/03 grain harvest could fall as much as 20% below last year's low level and 77% below the five-year average.
FEWS Net estimates for the size of Zimbabwe's 2002/03 grain harvest ranges from 414 000 tons and 800 000 tons.
Current maize imports from South Africa and the US are arriving at the rate of about 70 000 tons per month, less than half the requirements for human consumption of 150 000 tons. - I-Net Bridge
- News24
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