Official appeal for food aid finalised

The government of Zimbabwe was ready to submit a formal request for continued food aid to UN agencies, an official told IRIN on Friday. Lancaster Museka, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social Welfare, said the document had been finalised and would be submitted to the World Food Programme (WFP). This followed warnings by the WFP that it was unable to secure donor support for its food aid programmes because an official request from the government for aid was a prerequisite of "several major donors". IRIN reported on Tuesday that a disagreement over official crop forecast figures had been identified as the reason for the government's delay in making a formal appeal for food aid. The latest crop and food supply assessment mission by the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated that 4.4 million people in rural areas and 1.1 million in urban areas would require food assistance in 2003/04.