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WFP appeals for $140 million to feed millions of Zimbabweans
The World Food Programme has appealed for $140 million to feed millions of Zimbabweans who are facing severe food shortages over the next six months.
The United Nations WFP needs another 140 million US dollars to fund our operations over the next six months during which time we are aiming to provide assistance to help feed around four million people in Zimbabwe. And we urgently need extra donations because at the moment, our stocks of food supplies are running out in January, just when the current crisis is reaching its peak.
You went to Zimbabwe last week. What did you see there and what did the population tell you?
I was in Zimbabwe last week. I was at one of the first distributions conducted by the World Food Programme. And so many people I spoke to were talking about just how bad this year is, just how serious the food shortages are. Many of the older people I spoke with said this was the worst year they could remember. Families are surviving on one meal a day at most, just some maize sometimes, some vegetables. Families we are talking about the way they were forced to exchange their few remaining goats for just 5 kgs of maize per goat, how many of them are eating wild foods and that the situation is so serious even though we are still six months away from the harvest. So it is a very worrying situation. But the WFP is confident that we can get enough food out into Zimbabwe to the people who need it 1:27 as long as we have sufficient resources.
According to your figures, your people in need of assistance will rise to 45% of the population in 2009. how can you explain it?
It is a very large number of people, around 5.1 million people in Zimbabwe will need food assistance at the peak of the crisis in early 2009. And the main reason for this was a very poor harvest this year. And the factors that caused that poor harvest include bad weather. There were some dry spells. There was lots of rain and flooding in some areas. There were not enough seeds and fertilizer for farmers across Zimbabwe. And also the prices that were set by the government were set too low. So they proved to be a disincentive for farmers to really strive to produce a surplus. And that all combined to produce a very bad harvest which has left millions of subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers and their families facing severe food shortages and relying on international humanitarian assistance to see them through to the next harvest in April 2009.
And when you were in the field, what was the current situation of the ngos on the ground?
Our NGO partners are out in the field now in Zimbabwe across the country working, registering beneficiaries, distributing the World Food Programme's food, and there have been no issues since the suspension was lifted back at the end of August. And that's why we're confident that, if we get enough resources, the World Food Programme and our NGO partners can provide enough assistance , as we have done over the last six years when the World food Programme and our NGO partners have worked very successfully in Zimbabwe provided literally hundreds of thousands of tons to millions of people, and we're confident that we can have another successful operation and prevent this crisis from becoming a disaster.
And what are the worst affected areas and most vulnerable population?
This is unfortunately a national crisis. People are affected in every district in every province. The worst affected districts are across the south, but there are very hard hit areas in the center, the east, the northwest, and as we go through the end of this year and the beginning of 2009, we are going to see people in need of assistance in every single district.
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