The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
10 July 2009
Moshi — The Government has handed over 207 tonnes of food to residents of Machame in Hai district following the destruction of their farms by heavy downpour early this year.
Speaking during the hand over, the Hai district commissioner Dr Norman Sigalla said the food will be allocated to 510 families who were victims of the hailstorm.
During the February 7 downpour, some 3,009 villagers at Machame on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro were affected through the destruction of their farms and houses.
According to the DC, each family will get 68 kilogrammes of maize. The families in question had their coffee, banana and tomato farms destroyed during the rains.
Maize is the leading staple food for most of the villagers in Kilimanjaro region. However, the crop is grown on the lowlands or purchased through the sale of banana, coffee and vegetables.
Hai district officials said initially the Machame ward leaders had requested 405 tonnes of maize from the Prime Minister's Office to cope with the loss.
However, the DC has said the Government could not meet their demands because food scarcity was not confined to Machame alone but has affected various areas of Kilimanjaro.
But he warned against the tendency of some people selling relief food donated to them by various organisations and the Government.
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