World Food Programme (WFP) country director Eddie Rowe has revealed that up to 1.1 million people in the rural areas face hunger at the peak of the coming lean season. The lean season is from October to March. Speaking in Zvishavane, Rowe said:
The recent ZimVac [Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee] report on rural livelihoods still estimates that up to 1,1 million people will face food insecurity in the coming months. We know that now is the time to devote all our efforts to enhancing the abilities of communities and households to recover and build resilience for future shocks.
At the same event, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping said his country has donated another $5m to be used during the lean period. Huang said
In 2016, China provide $1m for lean season assistance and productive asset creation, for which we are holding the handover now.
And today, I have more good news to share with you. Just several days ago, the Chinese government decided to donate $5m to Zimbabwe through WFP in 2017 which will be spent in the 2017-2018 lean season on assistance and support to refugees, benefitting approximately 107 000 people.
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