UN Plans Food Relief for Zimbabweans

The United Nations World Food Programme, WFP is planning a food relief programme targeting 700,000 people in Zimbabwe.

The food Programme is expected to commence in October as the effects of a poor harvest and the Ukraine war continue to show.

“I do not think this is famine yet, but that does not mean that it is good. We are preparing for a response that will take off from October up to March. We are working with the government on a joint plan for the food deficit mitigation programme and that is for 3.8 million people,” WFP country representative Franscesca Erldelmann said.

She said the number of food insecure people had shot up from 2.9 million to 3.8 million, warning that more households could go hungry as grain stocks dwindle.

According to WFP, Zimbabwe’s government is working with agencies to provide food aid for 3.8 million people.

The southern African country has been struggling to feed itself since 2000 when former leader Robert Mugabe championed the seizure of white-owned farms to resettle landless Black people.

The country requires 2.2 million tonnes of maize annually for human and livestock consumption.

REUTERS/CO