A U.N. food agency says it is still far short of the money needed to feed an estimated one-half-million starving people in Zimbabwe, where political unrest and drought have led to severe food shortages.

The World Food Program recently launched an appeal for $60 million in food aid, but a spokeswoman says the agency has received only a fraction of the needed amount.

The U.N. agency this week began emergency food aid distribution, delivering a one-month ration of the staple maize-meal to 40,000 people threatened by serious food shortages in the Hwange areas of north Matabeleland.

Food agency officials said the situation is rapidly deteriorating as the country runs out of grain reserves and is not in a position to import sufficient maize to meet its 5,000 ton daily requirements.

Reports from Zimbabwe tell of people scrounging for food and eating whatever they can get by begging or foraging. The food shortages are a key issue in the upcoming presidential elections.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version