Food security remains precarious

Zimbabwe's food security has improved but is still "precarious" and "vulnerable to sudden shocks", according to the latest update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).



Food insecurity concerns have been raised, "although the area planted for maize increased by 14 percent - from 1,507,968 hectares in 2008/09 to 1,723,990 hectares in 2009/10 - about 200,574 hectares, representing 11.6 percent of area planted, is a write-off because of the dry spell [from December 2009 to February 2010], according to the First Round Crop and Livestock Assessment, the update noted.



Food shortages peaked in the first quarter of 2009, when nearly 7 million people relied on emergency feeding schemes, but the country remains fragile despite the formation of a unity government in February 2009. The donor community has yet to respond to the 2010 Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for US$378 million, committing only US$5 million - 1.3 percent of the requirement - so far.



OCHA's Financial Tracking Service, which monitors global humanitarian aid flows, on 15 March 2010 showed a continuous flow of pages highlighting unmet requirements in red - rural restocking programmes, seeds for small-scale farmers, local government capacity building, cholera prevention projects - with zero commitment in 99 percent of the pledges column.



go/he