Food shortages in the south

At least 200 families whose crops were destroyed by cyclone Eline in Chikombedzi, Chiredzi district, 300 km south of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare are faced with severe food shortages, ‘The Herald’ reported on Thursday. The families are reportedly surviving on wild fruits, roots and tubers in a desperate attempt to keep starvation at bay.

Despite applying for relief food from the government through the district administrator’s office, the families have not yet received a response. In an interview with the newspaper, a spokesman for the villagers said: “We sent our names and food requirements to the district administrator’s office in Chiredzi about three months ago but we have received nothing,” he said.

“We are now looking for fruits and tubers from the forests but we can not survive on that alone,” he added. The district administrator’s office in Chiredzi on Wednesday confirmed the report, saying it has passed on the villagers’ food requirements to the provincial civil protection unit.