Zimbabwe has grain for the next four months

Zimbabwe has sufficient grain to feed its people for the next four months with stocks rising steadily as farmers have since started delivering, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) said on Wednesday.

To date 109,000 metric tonnes of grain have been moved to households facing food shortages country wide under the Grain Loan Scheme, reports Zimbabwe's news agency New Ziana.

Zimbabwe had a series of poor seasons over the years prompting the government to launch the grain loan scheme last year to cushion families.

Under the scheme vulnerable households are allowed to borrow up to 200 kilograms of grain from the GMB up to March 2013, which will be repayable after a good harvest.

GMB general manger Albert Mandizha said grain deliveries had since started albeit at a low rate.

"The good thing is that while some grain is going out some is also coming in.

"The out flow of grain is still higher than the inflaw because the selling season is still starting but in the next two months the reverse will be true, building again on the Strategic Grain Reserve closing the gap,'' he said, adding the pick of grain deliveries was in September.

Mandizha said beneficiaries should not pay anything to the GMB to get grain as they should only repay after harvesting.

Meanwhile, Mandizha said about 90 percent of grain delivered so far had been paid for.

Provinces that face perennial food shortages include parts of Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland South and North and some parts of Midlands.