The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) appealed for $130 million to save millions of Zimbabweans from hunger, especially in view of coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.<\/p>\n
A recent nationwide assessment \u2013 the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) \u2013 shows that the number of acutely food insecure Zimbabweans has risen to 4.3 million, from 3.8 million at the end of last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith most Zimbabweans already struggling to put food on the table, the COVID pandemic risks even wider and deeper desperation,\u201d said Eddie Rowe, WFP\u2019s Country Director. \u201cWe must all do our utmost to prevent this tragedy turning into a catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n
WFP assistance in recent months has helped ease hunger in six of nine districts classified late last year as suffering \u201cemergency\u201d food insecurity (IPC 4), allowing them to be downgraded to the less severe \u201ccrisis\u201d level (IPC 3).<\/p>\n
However, 56 of the country\u2019s 60 districts are now categorized as experiencing \u201ccrisis\u201d hunger. WFP supports communities afflicted by \u201ccrisis\u201d and \u201cemergency\u201d food insecurity.<\/p>\n
WFP is planning to assist 4.1 million people in April, although insufficient funding has prevented it achieving the same monthly target since the turn of the year. In March, it reached 3.7 million of the most vulnerable Zimbabweans.<\/p>\n
The total number of food insecure people stands at 7.7 million, more than half the population. The $130 million being urgently sought by WFP is part of a total food assistance sector requirement of $472 million through December.<\/p>\n
Cereal production in 2019 was half that of 2018, and less than half the national requirement. Experts predict that the upcoming 2020 harvest will be even poorer.<\/p>\n
Most of Zimbabwe\u2019s food is produced by subsistence farmers dependent on a single, increasingly unreliable rainy season.<\/p>\n
With unprecedented hyperinflation having pushed the prices of staples beyond the means of most Zimbabweans, increasingly desperate families are eating less, selling off precious belongings and going into debt.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 threatens to exacerbate Zimbabwe\u2019s dire economic and hunger crises, drastically affecting the lives of people in both urban and rural areas. WFP has a critical role to play by sustaining its scaled-up food assistance program \u2013 and must be able to deliver at full capacity \u2013 while supporting the country\u2019s response to the pandemic.<\/p>\n
It is pre-positioning three months of food and cash assistance, rolling out new risk-control measures at distributions \u2013 increasing their number to prevent overcrowding, initiating handwashing and monitoring social distancing \u2013 and launching a communications campaign to convey essential health and safety information.<\/p>\n
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The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) appealed for $130 million to save millions of Zimbabweans from hunger, especially in view of coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. A recent nationwide assessment \u2013 the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) \u2013 shows that the number of acutely food insecure Zimbabweans has risen to 4.3 million, from 3.8 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":54315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[984,6030],"tags":[6331,7884],"yoast_head":"\n