Food crisis now a "national disaster"

By Vusumuzi Sifile

HUMANITARIAN organisations want the government to declare the current situation in the country — particularly in the two Matabeleland regions — a national disaster, to speed up the allocation of resources to needy communities.

It was widely hoped that the signing of the power-sharing deal on September 15 and an earlier government lifting of a ban on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would improve the working conditions of NGOs. However, most of them have not started operating, as the government has tightened its grip on their operations.

At a meeting in Bulawayo on October 3, members of the Matabeleland NGO Forum said the crisis was now “characteristically complex and increasingly spiralling out of control” thus demanding robust and multi-faceted interventions.

“There is a 78% food deficit in the country. The situation in food terms is worse than in 1992, which had a deficit of 40% but with greater import capacities, international goodwill, human resources etc. There is strong basis to push for the humanitarian crisis to be declared a national disaster, which requires the setting up of appropriate structures to manage the situation,” reads part of the minutes of the meeting.

The situation, it was noted, had been worsened by the “confusion about the lifting of the ban on NGO operations as regard who indeed is able to operate”.

Fambai Ngirande, the Advocacy and Public Policy manager for the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) confirmed the NGOs wanted the crisis to be declared a national disaster.

“Of concern is the fact that this crisis is much larger than the 1992 drought thought to be the worst in post-independent history, but without the international good will and favourable operating environment that enabled Zimbabwe to effectively contend with the 1992 drought,” Ngirande said.

Although some humanitarian organisations said they were conducting field operations in such areas as child supplementary feeding, resuscitating boreholes and distributing agricultural support, the levels of need far exceed the capacities of the NGOs involved, there were still challenges especially in targeting vulnerable people.

High demand had also placed an additional burden on NGOs, especially those that feed school children.

“For example where an organisation was expecting to feed only those children enrolled in schools, they now have to cater for their siblings in the one – five-year age group, some of whom are forced to trek more than 3km daily to access their only meal for the day,” said an NGO official.

“Organisations on the ground are clearly overstretched and further constrained by the realities of an un-conducive operating environment,” Ngirande said. “Worse still, the role of the humanitarian sector has been compelled by the dire circumstances to shift from being of a complementary nature to becoming the primary source of support for an increasingly ballooning number of desperate people.”

Most organisations have expressed willingness to play an active role in alleviating the crisis. They are however still waiting for the constitution of an all-inclusive government to start operations.

Last week, the French Embassy in Harare said France decided on October 3 to release food aid worth 2 millions euros “to provide immediate support to the most vulnerable people of Zimbabwe as well as to support medium- and long-term policies aimed at promoting food security”.

“Given the difficult humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe and the growing number of people exposed to severe malnutrition, France is increasing its efforts to assist the population,” said Stéphane Toulet, the embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission. The aid will be distributed through the World Food Programme.