World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Christmas in Zimbabwe is also the hunger season — the time between harvests from September to March — for most of the nation's impoverished rural population who depend on food hand-outs. (..) Food shortages are "worse" this year compared to the last three years due to drought and constrained access to cash to buy seed and fertilizer for rural farmers, said World Food Program Zimbabwe country director Felix Bamezon.

The United Nations food relief agency today announced it is scaling up its efforts to assist more than 3.5 million people in drought-hit areas of southern Africa, particularly in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, who are now facing the start of the hunger season. “Large numbers of smallholder farmers and their families are in the grip of what is set to be one of the harshest hunger seasons of recent years,” said the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Deputy Regional Director for Southern Africa, Brenda Barton.

The people of Buhera are among the 1.6 million of Zimbabwe's 13 million population that will require food aid during the lean season, according to the United Nations World Food Programme. (..) World Food Programme spokesperson Victoria Cavanagh said the severity of the food shortages had prompted the agency to begin dispatching food aid to needy areas earlier than it normally does in October. "We will be starting earlier in September and we plan to meet the growing need of the people through a combination of in-kind [food for work] food distribution and cash transfers in appropriate areas."

The United Nations food agency says hunger is worsening in Zimbabwe after erratic rains, shortages of seeds and fertilizer and “poor agricultural practices” in the troubled economy led to a reduction in fields planted with the main staple foods. The World Food Program said cereal harvests in the current season were down by an estimated one third compared to last year. It said about 1.1 million rural people will need food aid up to December, rising to 1.6 million in the traditionally “lean months” to March.

Irregular rains, poor agricultural practices and ongoing economic challenges have pushed Zimbabwe into an increasingly critical food security situation, the United Nations food relief agency warned today. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the past several weeks have provided signs of growing distress across the African country with high food prices, empty silos and granaries, and a reduced cereal harvest, aggravating the country’s food security outlook.

An estimated 1.6 million people in the rural areas of Zimbabwe will require food aid next year, according to a food needs assessment report. (..) Sporadic rainfall, limited access to agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilisers, and inadequate farming practices are being blamed for increasing levels of vulnerability and acute food insecurity in the country, said the World Food Programme (WFP). (..) Rural people are starting to feel the effects of the drought. "Our field staff are already reporting signs of distress in rural areas, including empty granaries and farmers selling off their livestock to make ends meet," said WFP country director Felix Bamezon.

Zimbabwe was once southern Africa's breadbasket. (..) For more than 10 consecutive years since President Robert Mugabe’s government embarked on a land reform program targeting white farmers, Zimbabwe has had to import food to avert hunger as its new farmers cannot produce enough. The United Nations estimates that at least 1.5 million people need food aid in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe faces a huge grain deficit this year after a third of the current maize crop was written off due to a prolonged dry spell, state media reported on Monday. (..) Zimbabwe is likely to resort to grain imports, although there were fears that regional suppliers South Africa, Zambia and Malawi may not be in a position to export.

Today, thanks to a “food-for-assets” programme which helps vulnerable rural communities repair and develop essential local infrastructure in exchange for food aid, Tsenga's residents have reconnected themselves to the outside world by rebuilding the old bridge and repairing 8km of severely damaged road passing through their district. (..) WFP country director Felix Bamezon told IRIN the programme was started in 2009 in districts with a track record of recurrent food insecurity with the aim of improving livelihood opportunities for vulnerable households and reducing their dependence on emergency food aid.

WFP deputy country director Simon Camelbeeck cautioned though that the food program, set to run through March and already benefiting at least 150,000 people nationwide, may be hampered by a funding gap of $12 million. Camelbeeck said the beneficiaries are currently receiving a food basket which includes maize meal, cooking oil and beans.