PROLONGED drought and poor harvests last year have left 289,000 villagers in Chamwino District, Dodoma Region, facing severe hunger. Officials here have said some 22,000 tonnes of food are needed to alleviate the problem, which has seen villagers, mostly the elderly surviving on baobab juice which is the only affordable and available food for them.
A survey by the Daily News here has also found out that food prices have gone up by over 100 per cent, aggravating the problem because few can afford to buy food due to poor income and lack of employment.
A resident of Mlowa Barabarani Village in Mtera Constituency, Mr Stephen Mnyangi, said that farmers have eaten all the food including the seeds, normally reserved for planting during a new farming season.
Amid the worsening situation, some Non-Governmental Organisations and aid groups have come out to assist by donating food to all those in critical condition and at the moment Action Aid International has distributed 129 tonnes of food worth 130m/-.
The beneficiaries are the aged, HIV/AIDS patients and those living in hard conditions. In some areas the situation is threatening the survival of domestic animals since most of the areas are dry and many rivers have also dried up causing both shortage of water and pastures for pastoralists.
The Chamwino District Commissioner, Mr Lephy Gembe, acknowledged the problem and said that over 22,000 tonnes of food are needed to offset the shortage.
The problem is real and we took initiatives since June, this year to survey the villages to determine the magnitude of the problem. We asked for food relief from the government but so far we have received 1,531 tonnes which will be distributed soon.”
Mr Gembe said that the 1,531 tonnes were received from the Prime Ministers Office Disaster Management Department. He added that the district was about to receive 9.6m/- to meet distribution expenses.
The food received and the 9.6m/- to be received is too little to address the problem, thus we have sent requests for more assistance, he said, adding that plans were also underway to find high yield millet seeds for the farmers because with all the hunger, it was not possible for them to raise enough seeds when the rain season comes.
Serious drought has also been reported in a number of villages in Arusha and Manyara regions, prompting the government and NGOs to disburse emergency food to the areas.
International aid agencies including Oxfam this week warned that drought in seven East African countries including Tanzania was driving more than 23 million people towards severe hunger and destitution.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week brought together representatives from 100 countries to discuss ways to boost global food security, a vital issue in a world where one sixth of humanity suffers from chronic hunger.
Daily News
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