Zimbabwe Expects Food Shortages

HARARE - Apr 11/05 - IRIN -- Zimbabweans are bracing themselves for yet another year of food shortages as adverse weather conditions take a heavy toll on crops.

The government has warned that the impact of drought conditions is expected to be worse than last year, although the extent of the damage will only become clear when the harvest period ends on 30 April.

Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mangwana recently told the official Herald newspaper his ministry had sent teams to assess the country's food requirements as a result of the prolonged dry spells that were affecting most parts of the country.

"At the moment we cannot give exact figures because our teams are still gathering information, so that we know how many people will need food assistance. The number of people needing food assistance will obviously be higher than last year, because most parts of the country were affected by crop failure," Mangwana told The Herald.

He added that the authorities would approach "friendly countries" and the United Nations for assistance after the country's food needs had been verified, highlighting that about 400,000 households had been coping with insufficient food supplies since September 2004.

According to the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office, Zimbabwe's southern provinces of Matabeleland, Masvingo and Manicaland experienced the driest spells during February and March.

The US-funded Famine Early Warning System Network reported that although rain had recently fallen across the country, the showers were too late to revive the crops, which were at a critical stage of development.

John Robertson, an economic consultant, was recently quoted by the privately owned Zimbabwe Independent as saying that more than US $225 million was needed to import about 1.4 million metric tons (MT) of maize or corn and 300,000 MT of wheat to cover the estimated food deficit.

Zimbabwe's rural population has borne the brunt of recurrent maize shortages, with some communities last year relying on wild fruits and informal trade networks and remittances from those working abroad to pull through.

Davison Mugabe, president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union, which represents more than 4,000 newly resettled farmers, said Zimbabweans should prepare themselves for difficult times ahead yet again.

"Our situation is beyond salvation - the erratic rains that characterized this planting season spared no crop and harvests will be very bad. The lower half of the country is particularly affected, considering the reports we are receiving from our members," Mugabe told IRIN.

"In some areas I have visited, farmers actually failed to plant anything because they miscalculated rainfall patterns. In other instances, farmers waited until December to plant because they did not want to take the risk of early planting, fearing that the first rains in October would be followed by a dry period that could stress their crops," he explained to IRIN.

However, Mugabe pointed out that in areas where rainfall had been normal, such as the Chiweshe, Dotito and Guruve communal areas in Mashonaland Central province, farmers were enjoying good harvests.

When IRIN visited the province last week, farmers expressed confidence that they would have enough to feed themselves until the next harvest period.

Fifty-year-old Phineas Mapondera of Chiweshe said he hoped to produce at least five MT of maize from his fields. "We are blessed because this area always receives good rains, even when the country suffers very bad years. In addition, the soil is good for maize and tobacco, and we do not have to apply much fertilizer," he told IRIN.

Although Mapondera's harvest prospects are favorable, he remains cautious about selling part of his produce to the Grain Marketing Board, the monopoly buying agency.

"Experience has taught me that whenever there is drought in most parts of the country, it is not wise to sell because you might suddenly find yourself in need of the very grain you would have sold, so I will store away what I have got to make sure that my family does not starve," he said.

On the other hand, newly resettled farmers in the perennially dry Masvingo province were struggling. Malnourished cattle could be seen grazing on the wilting maize crop and villagers told IRIN it was difficult to find water for their animals because the rivers were dry.

In the Zaka and Bikita districts some farmers had given up hope. "We hope the government will be able to supply us with food because we virtually got nothing from our fields. There is no grass for the cattle, donkeys and goats," said Samson Hlasera, headman of a village in Zaka.

"What makes the situation even more worrisome for us is that we had obtained loans for maize seed and fertilizer from the government. Now that we have not managed to harvest anything, how are we going to repay the loans, assuming the government insists that it wants its money?" he wondered.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) this week said it expected to feed 1.1 million beneficiaries during April through three programs: school feeding, supplementary feeding for malnourished children and support for HIV/AIDS-affected households. However, the UN food agency warned that food supplies were running low, with significant shortages expected in May.

Copyright (c) 2005 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs