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Imports of about 750,000mt of cereal by commercial and humanitarian agencies is easing Zimbabwe's dire food shortages, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) said in its February update.
About 7 million Zimbabweans require food aid ahead of the main harvest April, although initial indications are that the yield will bring only a brief respite from the country's food security concerns.
The quantity of cereals imported so far is about 64 percent of the required amount, but food security has also been improved by foreign currency payments to public service employees, the country's largest employer, FEWSNET said.
Cereal rations have been reduced from 10kg per person to 5kg due to funding shortfalls, and the ZimVAC urban assessment of the food situation in January 2009 found 33 percent of the assessed households were food insecure, compared to 24 percent in November 2006, FEWSNET said.
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