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Zim: UN to scale down food aid
30/06/2003 13:33 - (SA)
Cape Town - The emergency co-ordinator at the Johannesburg-based United Nations World Food Programme said on Monday that food aid to Zimbabwe would be "substantially" scaled down.
"The levels of assistance for this year will be less than the previous 12 months, with us helping about four million people as opposed to six million previously," said Deborah Saidy.
She said the decision followed the latest data gleaned from a joint Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme crop and food supply assessment mission to Zimbabwe in June.
According to this report, although national cereal production was considerably up on last year, a significant food gap remained particularly affecting those who lost their crops due to erratic weather in different parts of Zimbabwe.
"Coping mechanisms are seriously stressed or largely exhausted after the severe shortages of the last year," the report says.
Cereal production for consumption in 2003/2004 was estimated at 980 000 tons, which was 41% higher than last year's, but 51 percent below the 2000/2001 harvest.
Production of maize, the main staple diet and estimated at 803 000 tons, was 61% up on last year, but 46% lower than in 2000/2001.
"The main causes of the much lower than normal production of cereals this year include erratic rainfall, limited availability of seed and fertiliser, particularly in view of two or three replantings needed in many areas and the newly settled farmers not being able to utilise all the land due to lack of adequate capital and inputs, or collateral to procure them," the report says.
The report said that about 610 000 tons of maize needed to be met by emergency food aid, with 120 000 tons in the pipeline, leaving 490 000 tons to be covered by new contributions.
The mission estimated that 4.4m people in rural areas and 1.1m in urban areas required food assistance in 2003/2004, highlighting the urgent need for varieties of maize and other small grain seeds to be sourced quickly.
"If (this) is not addressed it will greatly limit plantings in the coming season," the report says.
According to Saidy, a renewed international appeal for donors to help in the Southern African Development Community region was expected in the next couple of days, covering Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia.
"There has been a general improvement in the region, especially in Zambia and Malawi whose crop production is much better.
"In these two countries we hope to procure food supplies from areas within the country which have a surplus, and for this reason we don't expect significant levels of food imports, but will rather look at donor cash for internal purchase," she said.
Saidy said, however, that Mozambique was a concern where a southern and central areas affected by drought, "with an almost total crop failure".
She said about 850 000 people could be affected by starvation and related diseases in Mozambique.
- SAPA
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