CWS director of emergency response programmes, Donna Derr, said that the aid package would alleviate short-term food insecurity for 26,900 particularly vulnerable Zimbabweans during the most critical period between this month and April 2009.
Welcoming the shifting policies in Zimbabwe, Derr said CWS would work with its partners in the country to deliver badly needed general food aid, school feeding, food recovery and psycho-social support as part of its multi-solution response to the worldwide food crisis.
In addition to receiving relief aid, beneficiaries would be assisted to increase crop productivity and improve food security through conservation farming training.
Some 3.8 million Zimbabweans will experience food insecurity through this month alone, and that number is expected to peak at 5.5 million people between January and March 2009.
The CWS programme comes barely two weeks after the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced relief aid for 200,000 vulnerable Zimbabweans, mainly children and those suffering from chronic diseases requiring good diet.
The Zimbabwe government lifted a ban on aid agencies in August, two months after accusing them of politicising food assistance in a bid to win votes for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Tsvangirai was to face President Robert Mugabe in a presidential election run-off in June but withdrew from the race a week before polling, alleging a violence campaign against his supporters.
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