The donation follows pleas for financial support by the World Food Programme, the United Nations entity that is involved in initiatives to avert hunger.
WFP Country Director Felix Bamezon, hailed the assistance.
“This donation comes at a critical time,” he said in Harare.
“It will allow us to scale up operations and ensure that vulnerable families in drought-stricken areas, including orphans and people living with HIV and AIDS, continue to receive food and cash assistance in the difficult months before the next harvest in April.”
Ambassador of Japan to Zimbabwe, Yonezo Fukuda, said Japan was pleased with its contribution to WFP’s food assistance programmes.
“We hope it will go a long way in alleviating food shortages affecting vulnerable Zimbabwean households,” he added.
It is estimated that some 1.6 million vulnerable people – one in five of the rural population – will be short of food between January and March next year. WFP is assisting most of these people with food distributions, and some 300 000 people will receive cash to enable them to buy their own cereals from local markets.
The Government of Japan has been providing food support for communities in need in developing countries since 1968. During the past decade, Japan has contributed more than US$29 million to WFP’s operations in Zimbabwe.
While donors have been generous in their contributions to WFP’s life-saving operations in Zimbabwe, more resources are still required to assist the most vulnerable, the organisation said.
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