The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says it is planning a food relief programme targeting 700 000 people in Zimbabwe.
The country’s food deficit has been exacerbated by a poor harvest and the Ukraine war.
WFP country representative Francesca Edelmann on Tuesday told Reuters that Zimbabwe’s government is working with agencies to provide food aid for 3.8 million people.
WFP has budgeted US$40 million for the food aid programme to cushion millions over the peak of the hunger season. Said Edelmann:
I do not think this is a famine as yet, but that does not mean that it is good. We are preparing for a response that will take off in October up to March.
We are working with government on a joint plan for the food deficit mitigation programme and that is for 3.8 million people.
Zimbabwe requires 2.2 million tonnes of maize annually for human and livestock consumption.
However, the govenment has said it expects 1.56 million tonnes from the 2021-2022 growing season due to poor rainfall.
Edelmann said the number of food insecure people had risen from 2.9 million to 3.8 million.
WFP warned that more households could go hungry as grain stocks dwindle. | Al Jazeera