Posted on 02/21/2003 2:06:01 AM PST by Clive
THE government has made a late appeal to the World Food Programme (WFP) to continue food aid support for another year as there is no end in sight to the country's severe shortages and famine, say diplomatic sources.
WFP food assistance is set to close at the end of March, raising fears that malnutrition will increase, especially in the hardest hit provinces, Masvingo and Matabeleland North and South.
Diplomatic sources said the government only made the official request for the continuation of food aid last week. There has not yet been an answer from United Nations Development Programme which oversees the WFP's operations.
"Government will not even get the response in time to bridge the gap," a source warned.
"The UN and its system would have to launch a fresh appeal to donors to make funds available to purchase the food and that would need a minimum of up to three months before the food shipments can start getting into the country. The UN is not a donor but mobilises funds from various donors to buy food," said the source.
Donors may not respond to the Zimbabwean appeal in time because of commitments elsewhere and the current stand- off between the government and the international community.
Despite government assurances that newly resettled farmers would provide adequate food for the nation, latest estimates show that agricultural production will fall far short of the country's requirements.
The need for more food aid is widely viewed as a sign of the failure of the country's "fast track" land resettlement, said the source.
The government estimates that maize production for the 2002/2003 season will only amount to 571,000 tonnes, according to the UN's Humanitarian Assistance Report for February. Of that only 56,000 tonnes are expected to flow to the Grain Marketing Board.
The estimates mean that the country will have a 1,3 million tonne deficit for the 2003/2004 marketing year. Zimbabwe has an annual food requirement of 1.9 million tonnes of maize to bridge its marketing year. The figure does not include about 500,000 tonnes for strategic grain reserves.
Does it only prop up the whole rotten edifice?
No deal? STARVE.
But we have no moral obligation to let the incompetents and criminals who caused the famine to administer the famine relief.
Especially where there is clear evidence that food is being diverted by party cadre to their own supporters and to the black market.
Famine is always caused by human actions. Sometimes it is caused by war or insurrection and sometimes by governmental action without the excuse of war or insurrection.
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