Two Million Zimbabweans Need Food Aid

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Red Cross Sees Food Crisis in Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe – According to the Red Cross, nearly 2.2 million people are in need of food aid.  That number is set to rise due to expected food shortages caused by the poor harvest this year.

Because of poor rains, many crops did not harvest soon enough.  At least eleven percent of the maize crop planted in the 2009/2010 season has been “declared a complete write-off,” according to agency reports.  Maize is a staple crop in Zimbabwe.

“In some parts of the country, the food situation is as bad as many of our volunteers and staff have ever seen it,” said Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Emma Kundishora.  “In Masvingo, for example, the rains didn’t come in time and the crops have already died.”

In December 2009, the International Red Cross appealed for 38.4 million Swiss francs (33.2 million US dollars) to continue its food operations.  The group is short, however, nearly $25 million.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe blamed the new farmers for the bad harvest, saying that they failed to obtain the proper irrigation for their crops.  Mugabe’s critics, however, blame the President because of land reforms that took white-owned farm lands and gave them to black people “to resettle blacks kicked off their land during British colonization.”  Critics believe that the reforms caused the best lands to be unharvested and gave farmlands to people who were unprepared to harvest them.

The food crisis is especially hard for those that are sick, especially those with HIV.  People affected with the virus are more needy for the nutrients in food, which keep their strength up.

“Hunger is an especially brutal experience for these people. In recent years, for example, we have seen many people default on their anti-retroviral treatment because the drugs are too toxic without food,” Kundishora said.

Zimbabwe was once called “the breadbasket of Africa,” offering much of the country’s food supply.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Two Million Need Food Aid in Zimbabwe: Red Cross – 11 March 2010

CBC News – Failed Harvest Deepens Zimbabwe Food Crisis – 11 March 2010

VOA – Red Cross Says 2.2 Million Zimbabweans Need Food Aid as Poor Harvest Looms – 11 March 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive