By Daniel Itai, Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s President, Emmerson Mnangagwa has donated 15 tonnes of rice to each rural constituency in the country.
5.5 million people in rural villages are in need of humanitarian aid. The minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Paul Mavima, said his ministry will ensure the rice is distributed accordingly.
“His Excellency the President of the Second Republic, comrade E.D. Mnangagwa has made a generous donation of 15 tonnes of Chinese rice to each rural constituency to feed rural populace during the festive season, we will continue to ensure that no one starves in Zimbabwe during this festive season and beyond.” said Mavima.
World Food Programme Representative and Director for Zimbabwe Eddie Rowe said, “there are some families that go to bed some days without a meal.
Prices of basic commodities are skyrocketing, basic services are not available, livelihood opportunities are sort of disintegrating.”
Rowe added that even the people in the urban areas are in need of humanitarian aid, “2.3 million people in about 15 towns and cities are not just food insecure, they are in poverty.
You have massive numbers of people who cannot find a job. People with Master’s degrees are selling water in the street, people are deploying all kinds of mechanisms just to survive.
These people think out of the box to survive. They have that innate capability to be able to withstand these types of shocks and to find a way to get around it.
Our fear is that it will come a time when they will exhaust all these coping measures. People are struggling, they are suffering.”
Apart from the climatic changes which have resulted in drought and flooding, the current macroeconomic and political challenges in the country have also contributed to food insecurity.
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