Govt compiling data to use in responding to food shortages
By Tadiwa Masiyiwa
Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mavima has indicated that the government is in the process of compiling information that will be used to design an appropriate intervention for reducing the country’s food shortfall.
Several Zimbabweans especially from rural areas are said to be at the risk of facing food shortages due to erratic rains.
According to Minister Mavima, the government will use the latest Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) report to design its intervention.
‘’We have just received the ZIMVAC report for the rural areas and we are using that information on vulnerability, including even temporary food insecurity to come up with a program for food-deficit mitigation,’’ said the Minister.
Mavima assured Parliament that he would come up with figures and approach the ministry of lands and agriculture within the next two weeks to get the grain that is needed in order to make interventions.
‘’It is a matter that we are really seized with right now because we know the desperate situation that some communities are in at the moment,” he said.
He also assured legislators that the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has adequate grain in its strategic reserve and would be able to provide the drought relief.
Zimbabwe has had several droughts in the past seasons and in some cases, the rains ended up destroying crops in the fields.
According to a ZIMVAC 2021 Rural Livelihoods Assessment, 50% of households in areas such as Matabeleland South Province have less than three months’ supplies of food.
The report also said that the number of hungry families might increase in both rural and urban areas. Despite millions of dollars spent on government-aided agricultural programs such as Intwasa/Pfumvudza and the Command Agriculture Programs to promote food security in the country, humanitarian organisations have warned that more than 5.4 million people in the country face starvation this season.
Govt compiling data to use in responding to food shortages
