World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The United Nations has given the World Food Program another five million dollars for its feeding programs in Zimbabwe, amid reports that the government will boost cereal imports to offset looming maize shortages due to drought. The World Food Program's spokesman for Southern Africa, Richard Lee, told VOA the new funding should “make a large difference” in hitting the organization's Zimbabwe funding target of US$20 million.

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) says Zimbabwe is staring hunger this year, warning that crops in the southern half of the country are already wilting due to moisture stress. (..) FEWSNET said the United Nations’ World Food Programme planned to scale up its food assistance activities from January to cover the food insecure population.

Inter-community conflicts in South-Ubangi district, Equator province in DRC have already affected 55 villages in five territories, leading to 70 000 people internally displaced and approximately 77 000 externally displaced, the United Nations Statistics bureau in charge of co-ordinating humanitarian affairs said yesterday.(..)WFP and other UN aid agencies are ready to distribute assistance to the internally displaced persons but the recent worsening of the security situation in the country does not favour commencement of aid distribution.

President Robert Mugabe called for the West to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe, which he said were designed by "neo-colonialist enemies" who want his land reforms to fail. (..) Around 2.8 million of the more than 12 million people living in Zimbabwe might need humanitarian assistance before the next harvest in April 2010, according to the latest crop and food supply assessment from the United Nations World Food Program.

My Sunday column tells the extraordinary story of Tererai Trent, who grew up impoverished in northern Zimbabwe and was able (..) to get an education. (..) So does a free school lunch program (through UNICEF and WFP), at 11 cents per child per school day.

Youth militia and war veterans in Zimbabwe's Manicaland province have threatened to disrupt distribution of food aid if non-governmental organizations continue to pass out food without members of the former ruling ZANU-PF party being present, sources said. (..) Director Forbes Matonga of Christian Care, a distribution agent for the United Nations World Food Program, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that despite the pressure from ZANU-PF, his organization would not interrupt its distribution operations.

The dramatic up-scaling of violence against the few remaining Zimbabwean commercial farmers and their workers is cause for great concern, both for food security in Zimbabwe and for the region. (..) In February this year, the World Food Program (WFP) announced that it aimed to provide food assistance to 5.1 million people across Zimbabwe - the highest number of beneficiaries in a single month since the regional crisis began in 2002. In January, WFP assisted 4.3 million people.

The Australian government plans to provide $7 million of support to Zimbabwe farmers during the 2009-2010 summer crop season in an effort to boost food production in the southern African nation.(..)Australia will provide a further A$5 million ($4.5 million) to the World Food Program to feed hungry Zimbabweans

Australia said on Tuesday it would resume some ministerial contact with Zimbabwe (..). It will give US$5 million in food aid, to be delivered through the World Food Programme, US$1 million to help farmers with crop production, as well US$2 million to UNICEF for school funding.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced Monday it will give farmers in Zimbabwe a boost by distributing seeds and fertilizers in a bid to tackle hunger in the African nation (..) According to an assessment by the FAO, World Food Program (WFP)and Zimbabwean Government, only 1.4 million tons of cereal will be available domestically, compared to the more than 2 million tons needed.