News / Regional
Drought relief for Mat South
12 Jan 2016 at 16:54hrs | Views
Over 2000 tonnes of grain have been distributed in Matabeleland South province under the drought relief programme.
The government has however been called upon to increase food supplies as the number of food insecure households continues to rise.
According to the Social Services Department, 20345 households have benefitted from the 2161 tonnes of grain distributed between October and December last year in the province.
The number of people needing food aid is however expected to increase as not much is expected from the fields following a prolonged dry spell that has destroyed crops.
The critical food shortages being experienced present a national security threat which should be addressed with expediency, noted the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Assistant Commissioner - Operations in Matabeleland South province, Happymore Sigauke.
The government is aware of the food challenges confronting the province and the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is set to release 3000 tonnes of maize this month for distribution to food insecure areas.
The months of January and February are peak hunger periods and the parastatal has also set up a number of satellite centres across the province in a bid to move food closer to the people.
Meanwhile, committees working on drought relief programmes have been ordered to carry out further assessments to ascertain the actual extent of vulnerability to hunger in all the seven districts of Mashonaland West province.
The provincial drought relief committee convened a stakeholders' meeting in Chinhoyi for feedback on the ongoing efforts to alleviate hunger to vulnerable families and to spell out gaps in the distribution of grain to eligible beneficiaries.
The current distribution is based on results of the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, (ZIMVAC), but the Minister of State for Mashonaland West Province, Cde Faber Chidarikire ordered that there be further assessments to ensure no deserving beneficiaries are left out of the drought relief programme.
Some 33 000 households in the province are currently benefiting.
Minister Chidarikire also stressed that unruly youths should not be allowed to take control of the food distribution programme, following reports that they disrupted a distribution exercise at Mudzimu in Hurungwe.
Provincial Administrator for Mashonaland West province, Mr Mike Mazai, called for proper coordination of the programme and provision of transport to ferry the grain to beneficiaries who are currently being forced to foot the cost of transportation.
It is not yet clear how many tonnes of grain have so far been distributed.
The total number of families in urgent need of relief food will be known by the end of January.
The government has however been called upon to increase food supplies as the number of food insecure households continues to rise.
According to the Social Services Department, 20345 households have benefitted from the 2161 tonnes of grain distributed between October and December last year in the province.
The number of people needing food aid is however expected to increase as not much is expected from the fields following a prolonged dry spell that has destroyed crops.
The critical food shortages being experienced present a national security threat which should be addressed with expediency, noted the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Assistant Commissioner - Operations in Matabeleland South province, Happymore Sigauke.
The government is aware of the food challenges confronting the province and the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is set to release 3000 tonnes of maize this month for distribution to food insecure areas.
The months of January and February are peak hunger periods and the parastatal has also set up a number of satellite centres across the province in a bid to move food closer to the people.
The provincial drought relief committee convened a stakeholders' meeting in Chinhoyi for feedback on the ongoing efforts to alleviate hunger to vulnerable families and to spell out gaps in the distribution of grain to eligible beneficiaries.
The current distribution is based on results of the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, (ZIMVAC), but the Minister of State for Mashonaland West Province, Cde Faber Chidarikire ordered that there be further assessments to ensure no deserving beneficiaries are left out of the drought relief programme.
Some 33 000 households in the province are currently benefiting.
Minister Chidarikire also stressed that unruly youths should not be allowed to take control of the food distribution programme, following reports that they disrupted a distribution exercise at Mudzimu in Hurungwe.
Provincial Administrator for Mashonaland West province, Mr Mike Mazai, called for proper coordination of the programme and provision of transport to ferry the grain to beneficiaries who are currently being forced to foot the cost of transportation.
It is not yet clear how many tonnes of grain have so far been distributed.
The total number of families in urgent need of relief food will be known by the end of January.
Source - zbc
