World Vision to feed 60,000 malnourished children

Close to 60,000 children across Zimbabwe are expected to benefit from a supplementary feeding scheme from December to March next year, World Vision said on Friday.

The organisation's Harare office said US $17,000 had been allocated for the purchase of 21 mt of porridge mixture on a monthly basis.

World Vision director Rudo Kwaramba told IRIN: "The programme is directed at children under five years but we are hoping to include 6 to 7 year old children soon. Already blanket supplementary feeding has commenced in areas where World Vision has been operating. The under-five group receive daily wet feeding at community-based feeding points."

UN agencies estimate that of the 6.7 million Zimbabwean's facing critical food shortages, three million are women and children who are either malnourished or undernourished.

The relief organisation said it was feeding more than 6,000 children in the Gonono village, 260 km northwest of Harare, where the government-controlled Grain Marketing Board has scaled down maize distribution from once a week to once a month.

The agency was also delivering a monthly supplementary ration of 10 kg corn-soya blend to 65,265 HIV/AIDS patients in districts severely affected by the food crisis.

Some 34 percent of Zimbabweans between the ages of 15 and 49 are living with HIV/AIDS and there are more than 600,000 AIDS orphans.

To contribute to maintaining livelihoods and help avert reliance on food aid, World Vision said it was also implementing a large agricultural recovery programme.

But the organisation said sourcing seed had been a challenge as there were shortages throughout the region and the government had recently purchased all the maize seed available in the country for its input scheme through the GMB.