MUTARE About 500 000 families in various rural districts of Manicaland that experienced a bad harvest last season are in urgent need of food assistance. The Manicaland Provincial Administrator, Fungai Mbetsa, last week said food distribution to the areas was expected to start this month.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is funding the food distribution exercise. There are some Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that will be working with WFP in this programme. We hope that by the end of this year, about 500 000 people would have benefited from the food distribution exercise, said Mbetsa. He indicated that some vulnerable groups like orphans, the elderly and other disadvantaged persons would be given first preference. Mbetsa said the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) had already identified the most vulnerable areas that needed assistance. The (ZIMVAC) report has indicated that some rural households did not produce enough food for the 2008/9 season and there is great need for food assistance, Mbetsa said.
The Provincial Administrator said more cereals should be imported to make up for the harvest shortfalls. There is an urgent need to put in place measures that encourage efficient redistribution of domestic harvest from surplus areas to deficit areas, he said. Many desperate people in the rural areas have embarked on barter trade to exchange their livestock for maize grain. Chief Zimunya has since registered grave concern over the way some villagers are losing their valuable cattle to maize grain dealers. Most of my villagers are at a disadvantage, as they are only given a few bags of maize grain of little value in exchange of their heads of cattle, he said.