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| Zimbabwe: Red Cross begins emergency food distribution 17 September 2008 Red Cross Red Crescent trucks will today (Wednesday 17 September) leave warehouses in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare carrying 383 metric tons of food aid for vulnerable communities across the country. As part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) 27.7 million Swiss franc (26.8 million US dollar/17.1 million euro) food security operation, this initial deployment will provide almost 24,000 people in eight of Zimbabwe’s provinces with enough maize, beans and cooking oil to last for one month. A total of 260,100 people will be supported each month. “This is a critical period for these communities,” says Peter Lundberg, the head of the IFRC’s delegation in Harare. “They have already faced months without enough food and, for many families, the situation has deteriorated drastically in recent weeks.” The chronic food situation in Zimbabwe is the result of an accumulation of a number of negative factors. Alternating droughts and rain, influenced by climate change, has resulted in a disastrously underperforming 2008 harvest, one that is widely seen as the worst in the country’s history. In addition, ongoing socio-economic decline has contributed to a severe lack of agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, leaving even fertile fields unsown. On top of this the country’s record hyper-inflation is now estimated at above 11 million per cent. IFRC food distributions are planned to continue for the next nine months, supporting 260,100 people infected or affected by HIV and AIDS with 35,000 metric tons of food. This group, explains Françoise Le Goff, head of the IFRC’s Southern Africa zone, is particularly vulnerable to food shortages. “Many of these people are on anti-retroviral medication (ART). For these drugs to work effectively, people need food. Without a full stomach, many of those on ART are now choosing to default on their treatment as they can’t cope with the debilitating side effects,” says Ms Le Goff. According to health authorities in Masvingo Province - one of the regions worst affected by the food crisis - 70 per cent of people on ART have defaulted in recent months because of the lack of food. Once treatment is stopped, the HIV virus typically returns with a vengeance, causing a rapid deterioration in health. For more information on the Zimbabwe food crisis, please visit www.ifrc.org/zimbabwe. For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact: Matthew Cochrane, communications manager (Johannesburg) Tel: + 27 83 395 52 66 Jean-Luc Martinage, communications officer (Geneva) Tel: + 41 79 217 33 86 Media service duty phone (Geneva) Tel: + 41 79 416 38 81 B-roll and photos are available on request. A 18 June UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) report suggests that Zimbabwe’s 2008 winter harvest may only produce about 40 per cent of the country’s needs. The report projects that there will be more than two million food-insecure people for the period between July and September 2008, rising to 3.8 million between October and December and peaking at 5.1 million people between January and March 2009. The IFRC’s preliminary emergency appeal will enable the Zimbabwe Red Cross to help about 260,100 particularly vulnerable people. In the immediate term, efforts will focus on distributing emergency food aid. To this end, the Red Cross Red Crescent will be importing more than 35,000 metric tons of food into Zimbabwe. In the longer-term, the Red Cross Red Crescent will support families and communities to restore and improve their ability to cope with future similar threats and challenges, through the distribution of seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs, and through training in diverse farming techniques The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 186 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies |
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