Zambia which previously sold maize to Zimbabwe in recent years says it will not be prepared to export this year because of fears about its own maize crop. The ongoing drought in Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries is the worst in three decades.
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London, Feb.6: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, has declared a state of disaster in rural areas hit by a severe drought, as more than a quarter of the population faces food shortages.
The declaration paves the way for global donors to step in and raise money for food aid. Zimbabwe’s economy, including its local currency, the Zimbabwe dollar collapsed after Zimbabwe’s agricultural exports nearly stopped as so few crops were grown.
Cattle are dying because of parched grasslands caused by a lack of rain. The droughts could also affect hydro-power generation which now provides 38% of Zimbabwe’s total electricity.
With the number of people requiring food aid rising to 2.5 million – which makes up around 26 percent of the population – Kasukuwere went on to say in his statement that President Mugabe has now declared a state of disaster in the “severely affected areas in communal and resettlement lands of Zimbabwe effective from February 2, 2016”.
“Over 95% of the country has received less than 75% of what they would have received by this time of the year”, said Kasukuwere.
The government has earmarked $200 million for food imports, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told lawmakers in the capital, Harare, on Thursday.
An estimated two-point-four million people are now in need of food aid.
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The El Nino weather cycle has brought drought to Southern Africa, leaving tens of thousands of cattle dead, dams low and destroying rain-fed crops.
