Published by the government of Zimbabwe
John Kachembere
4 December 2008
Harare — GOVERNMENT is appealing for more US$450 million to secure food and help address the urgent humanitarian food crisis in the country.
Last week the United Nations World Food Programme said Zimbabwe needed at least US$550 million to avert hunger, mainly caused by perennial droughts affecting the region.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and International Trade, Rtd Colonel Christian Katsande, said the government is currently seeking over US$450 million as part of efforts to ameliorate hunger, which has caused immense suffering in some parts of the country.
Katsande was presenting a major policy document on the proposed stabilisation and economic recovery programme at the National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) conference held in Harare on Monday.
"The humanitarian situation is very serious and Government must mobilise maize and wheat to last until March next year," he said.
"National food deficit requires the mobilising of both food and non-food resources. It is extremely critical that we receive major inputs to augur the farming process currently underway."
Zimbabwe is facing serious food shortages after suffering below normal rains in the last half of the previous planting season. The changing climate was characterised by incessant rains in the first half of the rainy season, (usually between late October and December) followed by a harsh dry spell that destroyed the maize crop (January to April).
Zimbabwe requires about 1,8 million tonnes of maize to meet its national food requirements per year.
The World Food Programme (WFP), which until recently was a major food donor to the country, warned that it was cutting back on rations to make the available stocks last longer after it got a poor response to appeals for more donations.
Rtd-colonel Katsande said in terms of food security specific measures need to be taken to ensure that the country is self-sufficient.
"It is not enough to support fertilizer and seed houses but adequate resources must be mobilised to ensure that farming implements and inputs have reached the deserving people," he said.
Rtd-Colonel Katsande also said there was urgent need to rehabilitate the obsolete irrigation system in the country so as to prepare for the shifting weather patterns.
Irrigation has played a key role in increasing agricultural produce worldwide by its ability to increase output especially in drought prone areas.
According to a recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation crop and food supply assessment mission, more than two million Zimbabweans are already in need of food aid and this number could rise to 5,1 million if nothing is done urgently.
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didnt Mugabe say that Zimbabwe doesnt need any food aid, and that if they did get it, Zimbabweans would choke because would have too much food? My how the tables have turned. The question is, do they need this money for food, or do they need to to fund their government? Will they steal from this money like they did the $7.3 Million USD that went missing from the global fund for aids etc?
Yeh just put you hand out and the THE RACIST WHITE MAN WILL HAND OVER THE MONEY
WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE FARMING EQUIPMENT TO THE FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES SEARCH THE SWISS ACCOUNTS
PLEASE TAKE A BREAK AND LOOK AT THE BRAIN DRAIN FROM ALL THE COMMUNITIES
How much money do you think Mugabe has in Swiss bank accounts? Hundreds of Millions or Billions?
Interesting to read the mouth piece for zanu is appealing for financial food aid from donor countries and had the guts to say the government. for all we know it's zanu pretenting to be the ruling party i bet they want that money to pay to the rebelious soldiers nothing humanitarian. the aid should be given to people who need it not the zanu loons. let them crumble maybe we will reclaim our country. another month without pay even the flipping riot police will do the decent thing and join the zimbabwean people.
Kubango taurao USD nekushaudha kwamunoita uku hapana chinobuda. I have never seen the Herald so desperate. Is the Government looking for food aid so that it could campaign and use the food to give its officials. Mugabe needs supervision you can’t trust him we know him from experience.
Hapana chinobuda nana Mugabe these are criminals the food will be used for the so called people's conference. Yes we are dying but it would waste of food or aid giving Mugabe's regime. He is known world wide hapana chinobuda those are crocodile tears. The aid will further be used to support as food packs to his intelligence staff who responsible for torturing and killing innocent Zimbabweans.
One of the indicium of literacy, nay intelligence is the art of close reading.
No Zimbabwean minister appealed for aid from any "white man" or "the West" Silly.
Is the United Nations a "white man's" organization? Bunkum.
Are the Chinese, Koreans, Saudi Arabians and an ocean of others 'white' or 'western.'
Such delusionary thinking can only be understood under the hypothesis of pathological cognition.
See all comments (12).
So that is 450 million on top of the 500 million for aids and medicine.
Many farms had irrigation as I recall and most was stolen, sold off for a quick profit, after the farm invasions. The farmers were never compensated for it and when they reported the theft were told it was political.
Productive farmers are still being thrown off farms.