HARARE The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched a seed distribution programme in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central provinces as part of a donor campaign to improve Zimbabwes food security.Thomas Merkelbach, head of the ICRC regional delegation in Harare, said the programme would enable more than 12 000 small-scale farmers to improve life and food security in communities affected by economic hardship, compounded by the violence following last year’s elections.
The ICRC’s field teams would distribute approximately 600 tonnes of food, 600 tonnes of fertilizer and 380 tonnes of maize, beans, sorghum, groundnuts and cowpea seed in Mbire, Mudzi, Mutoko, Rushinga and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe.
“In order to make sure that people use the seed for cultivation, and to ensure that farmers have enough food until the next harvest, we have given them maize, oil and salt,” Merkelbach said.
The targeted communities were particularly affected by Zimbabwes economic crisis and the attendant food shortages experienced during the past decade.
They have no access to seed for the planting season starting this month and the ICRC’s assistance would enable them to plant now and harvest in several months.
The programme is expected to allow the cultivation of over 16 000 hectares.
Before distributing the seed, the ICRC trained selected farmers in the conservation farming techniques that would enable them to optimize timing and productivity.
Aid agencies estimate that up to 1.6 million Zimbabweans would require food assistance before the next harvest expected in March or April 2010.
Most of the agencies have shifted from the previous focus on food handouts to supporting programmes that enhance the ability of vulnerable Zimbabwean families to improve their food security.
Post published in: World News