The government will struggle to feed hungry Zimbabweans after receiving approximately US$32 million in drought relief aid. Much more is needed to cover food insecure districts.
The country yesterday received US$31,8 million from the
African Risk Capacity (ARC) 2023/24 Drought Insurance Payout, with the
government getting US$16,8 million. This was complemented by payments to
Zimbabwe’s ARC replica partners, the World Food Programme (WFP) and Start
Network of US$6,1 million and US$8,9 million, respectively.
In its Food Security Outlook report released this week, the
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FewsNet), an initiative sponsored by the
United States Agency for International Aid, said most households in Zimbabwe
had very little to no own-produced food stocks following a poor harvest.
“Many households are expected to have exhausted their
own-produced cereal stocks by July, marking an early start to the 2024/25 lean
season.
“Water availability is expected to be well below normal.
Households are expected to rely mainly on boreholes for water for domestic,
livestock and other livelihood uses,” FewsNet said.
The report also indicated that the households are reliant
on market purchases or humanitarian assistance for food.
“Additionally, very few households have cereal stocks from
the 2023 harvest, as this was either consumed or sold during the previous year.
“Other food crops are also largely unavailable, with the
Ministry of Agriculture reporting that groundnut, round nut, sugar bean, sweet
potato and cowpea production was around 70 to 80% lower than last year.
“Cash crop production was similarly affected by the El
Niño, with the tobacco harvest declining to around 235 000 metric tonnes (MT)
compared to around 295 000 MT in 2023,” the report added.
The report also indicated that almost all typical
deficit-producing areas in the south, west and extreme north of the country are
expected to experience area-level crisis outcomes driven by the poor to failed
2023/24 harvests.
“The national annual cereal deficit for the 2024/25
marketing year is expected to be higher than the five-year average. Government
and the private sector are expected to import grain to meet national food
needs,” FewsNet said.
“National cereal grain prices will likely be higher than
last year and the five-year average throughout the outlook period; very
marginal to no seasonal price declines are expected this year.
An earlier-than-normal resurgence of price increases is
expected in the post-harvest period due to increased market demand and low
supplies.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment