Transport problems may limit ability to address food deficit

Zimbabwe's precarious food security situation could improve if imports continue to close the gap between national production and consumption requirements, but transport bottlenecks may prevent many communities from accessing staple commodities. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) noted in its latest report that the government had made considerable progress in procuring maize from outside the country to address the food deficit. "If the annual deficit was spread evenly throughout the marketing year, it would average about 92,000 mt per month. The current maize importation rate of about 80,000 mt per month is making up a considerable proportion of that monthly gap," FEWS NET commented. The remaining gap could be closed by other food imports via aid agencies, but FEWS NET said it was worrying that the "rather comfortable national maize availability picture is not reflected at sub-national levels". Maize grain and maize-meal were rarely available in both urban and rural markets. "In each district the availability of maize is lowest in the remote parts, furthest from markets. This scenario suggests serious in-country maize distribution bottlenecks," the report added. Aid workers estimated that up to 5 million people were going need food aid from mid-2005 until about April this year, following last year's failed harvest. A humanitarian official in Zimbabwe told IRIN that it was difficult to ascertain to what extent the food deficit has been cut. "We rely on information from the South African side, in terms of how much Zimbabwe has bought from South Africa, but the issue is whether maize is available to Zimbabweans, and how much is available," the aid worker said. "We are in the depths of the hunger period, between now and April, and where the government's imported food is going is something we are unable to answer." The aid official pointed out that the disparity between official import figures and the availability of food on the ground could be linked to the ongoing critical shortage of foreign currency in Zimbabwe, which has resulted in a scarcity of imported fuel and hampered the transportation of food to areas in need.