WFP emergency operation delayed

Poor donor responses have delayed the launch of a World Food Programme (WFP) emergency feeding operation in Zimbabwe.

With more than 550,000 Zimbabweans considered to be at risk of hunger and starvation, WFP launched an appeal in December for US $60 million to buy about 117 mt of food. It was hoped that food distributions would be under way, with the help of local non-governmental organisations, by the beginning of January.

WFP deputy regional director Nicholas Siwingwa told IRIN on Thursday that "responses have been extremely slow". He said WFP had already purchased about 5,200 mt of maize meal from suppliers in South Africa and hoped to begin distributing the food by the beginning of February - more than a month late.

However, it is clear that unless more contributions are received soon, the feeding operation could fail to reach those in need. A combination of flooding, drought, severe disruptions on farms and a shortage of foreign currency have caused food shortages in the country. The government has ordered about 150,000 mt of maize from South Africa for its commercial market, but will have to import much more to replenish its reserves.

"The initial parcel we are purchasing in South Africa is coming from our own standby facilities so that we can at least start off the emergency operation, which will require roughly about 10,000 mt of food a month. The more we delay, the more we will be putting many lives in danger ... We need these food resources very urgently. If we don't get this food now, we will begin to see very stressful situations in the areas where we want to begin this operation," Siwingwa said.

"We are now in January. This is normally the lean season. The harvest is not expected until about April or May and we are already receiving a lot of information to the effect that food security is worsening the rural areas of Matabeleland North and South. We are actually making very urgent appeals to our donors to contribute so we are able to launch this operation as soon as possible," he added.

When the appeal was launched in December, WFP regional director Judith Lewis appealed to the donor community for cash contributions, saying that this would help secure food stocks rapidly and locally. It takes about three months from the time a donor pledges money towards an appeal to the time food is purchased, transported and distributed to the needy.

She said at the time that WFP believed that a complex emergency was developing in Zimbabwe, with a "variety of serious problems which when added up, gravely threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of people". WFP said in a statement that already many Zimbabweans were averaging only one meal a day, or were going without food for the entire day.

What little grain many rural families managed to harvest last year was consumed long ago and their ability to buy food on the market was hindered by increasingly high prices, and limited opportunities to either earn cash through casual labour, or receive money from family or friends who worked in urban areas or in South Africa, the statement had said.

On Thursday Siwingwa said that the 116,651 mt of food the agency was looking for comprised of cereals, vegetable oil, pulses, corn soya blend and ground nuts. He said contributions in kind would be welcome too as they could be more rapidly transported and distributed.

The operation was expected to target the most vulnerable, including female-headed households, the terminally ill without support, households with low food crop harvests and households without any income.

While some believe the sluggish donor response to the WFP appeal is a result of the crisis facing Afghanistan, one diplomatic source said it was also possible that donors were concerned about political developments in Zimbabwe, especially since campaigning for the presidential elections in March has already been marred by violence.

Many local non-governmental organisations voiced concern about a month ago that food aid could be used as a political tool by the government in the run-up to the presidential polls. President Robert Mugabe, facing the stiffest opposition he's had since assuming power in 1980, will contest the election.

Meanwhile, according to a report in the state-controlled Herald, the government has finally put in place mechanisms for the importation of about 150,000 mt of maize from South Africa. The report said that the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) had cancelled a tender awarded earlier amid debate over whether going to tender was necessary given the strategic importance of maize and wheat - both controlled products, with GMB being the sole buyer.

"The bottom line is that we are talking about a strategic interest which should supersede everything else. Accordingly, it should be prudent for the GMB to import maize in its own right as a national interest. This should reduce overhead costs and minimise the risk of sabotage," an unnamed government official was quoted as saying.

GMB acting general manager Joan Mutukwa told the newspaper that maize imports were being finalised, but that more details would be released soon.