UN Seeks $130 Million To Prevent Hunger Catastrophe in Zimbabwe

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it needed US$130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August and prevent a catastrophe in the southern African nation, as climate- and recession-induced food shortages deepened.

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The WFP added 7.7 million Zimbabweans, half the population, need food aid after a devastating drought and cyclone last year. A lack of predictable rains this year has affected crops, compounding the situation.

The coronavirus pandemic has added to the pressure. Zimbabwe has recorded only three deaths and 11 cases, but economists predict it could face a second successive recession this year as the pandemic shuts down large parts of the global economy.

The country's mining industry, the largest single earner of foreign exchange, has already signaled that exports could fall by a quarter due to the effects of the new coronavirus.

“With most Zimbabweans already struggling to put food on the table, the COVID-19 pandemic risks even wider and deeper desperation,” WFP Director for Zimbabwe Eddie Rowe said in a statement.

“We must all do our utmost to prevent this tragedy from turning into a catastrophe.”

The agency warned that inflation, at 540 percent in February, was pushing prices of staples beyond the means of most Zimbabweans, forcing families to eat less and sell off belongings or go into debt.

Zimbabwe is under a 21-day lockdown but some residents have complained about this, exacerbating the situation. More than 80 percent of the working population ekes out a living in the informal sector, leaving them with few protections.