Food security remains critical in urban areas

Food security remains critical in Zimbabwe's urban areas and most households are unable to afford basic food commodities because of escalating prices, the latest Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report has warned. The value of the low-income urban household basket for September was more than six times the government-stipulated minimum wage for industrial workers, the report said. Teachers and other public service professionals were now taking home significantly less than the total monthly value of the basket, the report said. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said the value of the low-income urban household monthly expenditure basket for September 2003 stood at Zim $321,950 (US $390 at the official rate, US $53 at the parallel market rate), which is 18 percentage points higher than the August value. The non-food component of the basket had the highest increase, about 35 percent, while the food component went up by 11 percent. Inflation is currently 470 percent, and food items including cooking oil, salt, sugar and maize are mostly only regularly available on the parallel market, which is far more expensive. The government has fixed the price of basic commodities since October 2001. Droughts and the economic crisis have left household budgets and food supplies depleted. NGOs and the World Food Programme (WFP) have had to step in, and in October WFP distributed food to 1.8 million vulnerable people. Although WFP and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement for a further US $8.2 million contribution, a weak food aid pipeline is expected from January. Figures from Bulawayo's Mpilo Hospital over the last few months show a steady increase in the numbers of severely malnourished children being admitted, the report noted. In September 110 children were admitted, compared with 59 children in August and 72 in July. The average mortality rate was a shocking 30 percent. "Although hospitals have traditionally treated malnutrition, the high levels of malnutrition mean they are in urgent need of support," the report stated. Health spending in hospitals had already declined dramatically. This was coupled with a shortage of foreign exchange to buy drugs, and an ongoing brain drain of doctors and nurses leaving for better-paid positions in other countries. This week Zimbabwe's Labour Court ruled that a strike by doctors seeking better pay was illegal and ordered them to return to work. It was unclear whether the doctors agreed to abide by the decision. Funding for the WFP pipeline is secure only until December. The UN Children's Fund, which is coordinating the Nutrition Working Group, is concerned about how it will continue to fund programmes that provide enriched therapeutic milk, medications and other support to the malnourished. The report noted that although deliveries by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) improved slightly in September, monitoring sites in 33 districts (62 percent) reported no GMB deliveries in the period, attributing this to the absence of maize stocks and fuel problems. The GMB has also introduced a new system charging different prices in different areas, in the hope of ensuring access to grain by poor communities.