by Innocent Mujeri
In line with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s pledge that no Zimbabwean will die of hunger, government will soon avail to the nation measures to be taken to assist the vulnerable groups currently faced with drought induced hunger.
Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa said this while briefing journalists on the 7th Cabinet meeting decision matrix yesterday in Harare.
Minister Mutsvangwa said the measures would include launching of an international appeal for assistance to bridge the food deficit gap.
“Government will soon unveil to the nation and the international donor community measures to be taken in order to map the way to bridge the food deficit gap, including through the launching of an international appeal for assistance,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
Mutsvangwa said Cabinet had approved a report from the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) which clearly showed that a large number of the rural populace had received significant support from the government.
“Cabinet noted and approved the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) Report which clearly outlined that 75% of the rural districts had received over 50% of support from Government,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
The Government has to date gone out of its way to assist people who are greatly affected by hunger and has imported grain from countries such as Tanzania and South Africa.
Successive droughts and floods has resulted in significant loss of food in Zimbabwe and the Government together with other humanitarian organizations are currently busy with emergency responses as they continue to provide food aid to the vulnerable.
Due to drought, Zimbabwe’s maize production fell by 53 percent in the 2018/19 production season to 800,000 tonnes from the expected annual maize consumption of 1.8 to 2 million tonnes of maize. Therefore, the country is supposed to import at least a million tonnes of maize in order to meet the local supply requirements.
President Mnangagwa has directed all Government stakeholders that deal with mitigation of hunger to intensify efforts of providing food relief to the people. To date, over 200 000 tonnes of maize have been imported from Tanzania and South Africa.
Analyst, Mr Tashinga Chatambudza, applauded Government decision to appeal to the international community for assistance as a noble move, as Government alone will not be able to provide food aid to its citizens.
Chatambudza said Government was currently faced with other challenges such as reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed by Cyclone Idai as well as preparing for the outbreak of COVID-19. This has greatly affected Government’s efforts to provide adequate food aid to the people.
