POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Growing risk of waterborne diseases in rural areas

MHONDORO, 3 January 2012 (IRIN)

 Photo: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
An aid worker treats a cholera patient in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, on the border with South Africa during the 2008/2009 outbreak of the waterborne disease

Barbra Phiri, 20, a single mother living on a farm settlement in rural Mhondoro, about 45km southwest of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, does not think twice about letting her two-year-old twins splash about in a pool of greenish water close to her hut.
Since the rains began several weeks ago, dirty water has been accumulating on the settlement, now home to hundreds of former farmworkers and others displaced during Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 which razed illegal structures and left thousands without shelter.
Phiri remembers the 2008-2009 outbreak of cholera which killed more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 others, but sees it as a thing of the past and is still ignorant of how waterborne diseases are spread.
Her twins have a skin infection and frequent bouts of diarrhoea but, like most residents, she attributes such ailments to witchcraft, consulting a traditional healer for a cure.
Phiri told IRIN her first child died two years ago from diarrhoea. “We don’t use dirty water for drinking or cooking. We get clean water from the dam or the wells, so how can our children die from waterborne diseases?” she asked.
A few metres from Phiri’s hut is an overflowing pit latrine. Many inhabitants have resorted to relieving themselves in the open since most of their pit latrines are overflowing and unusable.
The 2009 Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey (MIMS), compiled by the government and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), listed diarrhoea as one of the major causes of infant mortality resulting in around 4, 000 deaths in Zimbabwe annually.
With the advent of the rainy season and poor sanitary and hygienic facilities, people living in rural and peri-urban settlements like Phiri’s are vulnerable to waterborne diseases.
The survey said: “Recent assessments show a significant decline in rural sanitation sector performance,” adding: “The inability of vulnerable populations to access safe water and basic sanitation… has resulted in frequent diarrhoeal and cholera outbreaks.”
The Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) for Zimbabwe, launched in early December 2011, said “a third of rural Zimbabweans still drink from unprotected water sources and are thus exposed to waterborne diseases,” and noted reports of cholera cases in rural Chipinge, in the eastern province of Manicaland, and Chiredzi in the southeast of the country.

More people seek treatment
A senior nurse at a clinic in rural Seke District, about 50km south of Harare, who preferred anonymity, told IRIN the number of people seeking treatment for diarrhoea and dysentery had increased since the onset of the rains.
“Typical of this time of the year when the rains fall, we treat a high number of people suffering from waterborne diseases… We have not received any cases of cholera but there is need to be on the alert all the time, because the surrounding villages are characterized by poor hygiene and sanitation. Many villagers tend to relieve themselves in the open because they cannot rehabilitate the Blair pit toilets that were built long ago,” she said.
Blair pit toilets were constructed in large numbers to improve rural sanitation in the 1980s. A fine wire mesh allowed gases produced by decomposition to escape, but prevented flies around the faecal matter from exiting the septic tank and so prevented the spread of diseases.
The boreholes that were drilled in the 1980s have broken down and only a few that were sunk in recent years still function
According a 2011 report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the government entitled A Situational Analysis on the Status of Women’s and Children’s Rights in Zimbabwe, 2005-2010 42 percent of people in rural communities practised open defecation, while cholera, which used to see significant outbreaks every 10 years or so in the 1980s and 1990s, has now become an annual event.
Poor household income, the senior nurse said, prevented some villagers from seeking treatment, “meaning that the number of people suffering from waterborne diseases could be higher as some of the cases go unreported [as people cannot afford to travel to clinics].”
David Shoniwa, 65, from Dema village in Seke District, said people in his community tended to relieve themselves along river beds during the dry season.
“The boreholes that were drilled in the 1980s have broken down and only a few that were sunk in recent years still function while, due to poor rains, it is difficult to sink new wells. When the rains fall, people turn to the rivers for water to drink and use for cooking, thereby exposing themselves to the diseases carried by the human waste,” Shoniwa told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94575

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Typhoid stalks Harare

HARARE, 30 January 2012 (IRIN) -

 Photo: IRIN
Broken water and sanitation infrastructure is being blamed for the outbreak of typhoid in the Zimbabwean capital Harare. In this 2007 file photograph raw sewage flows into the street. In 2008 a year-long cholera epidemic began.

Over the past few weeks some 900 residents of the Zimbabwean capital Harare have been diagnosed with typhoid, and about 60 have been admitted to hospital, say health authorities.
“Initially, we were focusing on Dzivarasekwa high density suburb as being the source of the disease outbreak but we are now receiving patients from different high density suburbs in Harare such as Kuwadzana and Warren Park,” Harare’s health director, Propser Chonzi, told IRIN.
There have been no confirmed fatalities from the disease, although senior health officials, who declined to be identified, told IRIN they were investigating the cause of some deaths at hospitals.
Chonzi said about 20 tuberculosis (TB) patients had been relocated from the 144-bed Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital on the outskirts of Harare to another infectious diseases institution, the Wilkins Hospital in central Harare, to make way for typhoid victims.
According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), typhoid “usually occurs where water supplies serving large populations are contaminated by faecal matter.” The disease is “characterized by the sudden onset of sustained fever, severe headache, nausea, abdominal pains, loss of appetite, constipation or sometimes diarrhoea. The illness can last for several weeks and even months,” it says.
Recent heavy rain in Harare is expected to compound the problem: Broken drains and water pipes have forced people to dig shallow wells, which are easily contaminated by human faeces.
“I can bet my last dollar there is typhoid in Chitungwiza and Epworth [Harare commuter towns]. The hygienic levels there are not good,” said Chonzi in a recent interview with the daily The Herald newspaper.
Furthermore, Chonzi said street food had been tested and found to be contaminated with Salmonella typhi, the bacteria which causes typhoid.
“We all need to change our habits if this [typhoid] outbreak is to be contained. We need to work on improving on cleanliness such as washing hands and avoiding dirty open air vending sites,” he said.
However, fish vendors, threatened with arrest by municipal police, have changed tactics and are selling their wares at night.

Cholera fears
Conditions which allow typhoid to flourish also provide favourable conditions for the waterborne disease cholera. Zimbabwe’s year-long cholera epidemic in 2008-09 killed more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 others.
“We can have cholera any time. The environment is conducive for the outbreak. We need to be proactive and play our part,” Chonzi warned in the same newspaper interview.
The Harare Residents Trust (HRT), an NGO campaigning for better municipal service delivery, said the spread of waterborne disease was due to the authorities’ failure to collect refuse, the erratic provision of water services, and the practice of pumping raw sewage into one of the main reservoirs supplying “drinking” water to Harare.
“The city must guarantee adequate clean water supplies to avoid the 2008 cholera outbreak,” HRT’s Precious Shumba told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94758

POVERTY: SOUTHERN AFRICA: Floods leave Angolan returnees stranded

JOHANNESBURG, 6 January 2012 (IRIN) -

 Photo: Tomas de Mul/IRIN
The Zambezi is prone to flooding annually
Several thousand Angolan returnees from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are stranded by floods in northeastern Angola. They are among the first casualties of what promises to be a very wet rainy season in parts of southern Africa.
“At least 50,000 people - 24,000 of them returnees - in 10 villages in Uige Province [northeastern Angola near border with DRC] have been affected by the flooding, rains and hailstorms in the past four months,” said Antonio Maiandi, head of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola, which has been trying to help those affected. The rainy season here tends to be longer than elsewhere in Angola.
“It is still pouring hard. At least 1,142 houses have been destroyed by the rains. Each family with shelter is now hosting other families,” said Maiandi, adding that the returnees, who had sought refuge from the civil war in Angola which ended in 2002, were putting enormous pressure on locals, and organizations such as his.
“The local population who are mostly farmers have been severely affected. Their cassava [staple food in Angola] and groundnut crops have been destroyed, so there is not enough food to go round.”
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) restarted formal repatriation of Angolans in November 2011 after logistical and other problems forced the process to stop in 2007. DRC is home to some 80,000 Angolans refugees, according to UNHCR.
The new return initiative comes after a UNHCR survey in 2010 found that 43,000 wanted to return home, and following a tripartite agreement between Angola, DRC and UNHCR (signed in June 2011), around 20,000 people signed up for help to return. The agreement came about after years of tense relations between the two countries: Angolan and Congolese nationals have been expelled from the two countries regularly.
Each family with shelter is now hosting other families
“The local population is extremely poor and unable to support the returnees,” and “people are still coming in every day,” said Maiandi.
UNHCR in Angola told IRIN they took a break in December 2011 and would resume formal repatriation on 17 January, but did not have an update on the number of people who had already arrived.
According to aid workers, increasing instability in the DRC following the recent disputed elections could be prompting more people to leave.
Maiandi said the returnees had not received adequate support from the authorities and church organizations had limited resources.
Meteorologists for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have predicted normal to above normal rains for most of the region from January to March 2012 largely because of the continuing effects of the 2011 La Niña event. Thousands of people in the region were displaced and scores killed in early 2011 as a result of heavy rains and flooding associated with La Niña.

Zimbabwe
As the rainy season begins here, aid workers and disaster prevention teams are closely monitoring water levels in the all-important Zambezi river, the continent's fourth largest.
The authorities have issued a flood alert after being forced to release water from the swollen Kariba Dam on the Zambezi earlier than usual in the rainy season.
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) which usually opens the spillway gates of Lake Kariba in the last two weeks of January was forced to open one of the gates on 3 January. It has advised people living downstream to evacuate their homes.

Zambia
Zambia is in for a mixed season. Dominicano Mulenga, national coordinator of Zambia's Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, said a plan had been drawn up to help 368,953 people likely to be affected by rain and dry spells. While northwestern and western parts of the country had seen heavy rain, southern, eastern and parts of central Zambia were likely to receive little or no rain, he said.
The water level in the Zambezi was higher than at the same time in 2011, he added. “We have had three seasons of heavy rainfall and the ground is saturated with water, making it more prone to flooding.”

Namibia
Namibians, currently experiencing a heat wave, are eager for rain, said Guido van Langehove, chief of the Namibia Hydrological Services. Southern African Development Community (SADC) meteorologists have forecast normal to above normal rains for Namibia over the next three months. “It was the same forecast last year and we recorded three times the normal rain,” van Langehove pointed out.
The Caprivi Region, Namibia’s poorest area, is prone to annual flooding.
Japhet Itenge, director of Disaster Risk Management in the Office of the Prime Minister, said they were prepositioning essential commodities and relief tools as part of their contingency plans.

Lesotho
Lesotho has not received adequate rainfall in the past few months, a spokesman for the country’s meteorological services told IRIN. “SADC has forecast heavy rains for Lesotho in the coming weeks. We are worried it can cause early frost and destroy crops that have already been planted,” he said.
Lesotho and Namibia have food insecurity levels greater than their five-year averages due to the severe flooding experienced during the last growing season, according to FEWSNET.

Mozambique
The Mozambican authorities have begun to release water from the Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi. People living mainly along the lower Zambezi basin and in Buzi, Save, and Pungue basins, including Beira city, are on alert.
Sofala Province in central Mozambique is currently distributing items such as bicycles, stretchers, masks, gloves, megaphones and boats, according to the Mozambique Red Cross; and members of seven local disaster risk management committees established in Beira City are cleaning the drainage system.
The National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) is monitoring the rivers Montepuez, Licungo, Mutamba, Pungué, Buzi, Save, and Maputo, said FEWSNET. In the Zambezi and Limpopo river basins, FEWSNET warned of a near-average-to-high probability of flooding.
João Bobotela, CARE’s emergency response coordinator in Mozambique, said INGC and local authorities had been running flood simulation exercises since November 2011 to prepare communities for sudden evacuations.

Botswana
Arid Botswana has not received good rains in the past few months. “We are expecting average rains which might help crops,” said a spokesman for the Botswana Meteorological Services.

Malawi
More rains have been forecast for southern Malawi, where land adjacent to the River Shire, one of the most food-insecure parts of the country, is prone to flooding. Parts of the region, which has seen an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and a hike in food prices, are in crisis mode, warned FEWSNET.

South Africa
Much-needed rain has fallen in South Africa’s major maize-producing northern Free State area in the past few weeks. The government and USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) say the country has adequate supplies, but global maize stocks are low, putting considerable upward price pressure on South African white maize.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94598

MALARIA: Zimbabwe: at pre-elimination stage

"Zimbabwe is doing very well as far as malaria control is concerned," she said in Harare. "In fact, in some areas of Matabeleland we have reached the pre-elimination stage which means our system is very advanced and meets WHO standards.”
However, when asked why the same World Health Organisation, which has developed a new drug to combat malaria, had side-lined Zimbabwe from receiving the drug, the official said: "I am not aware of this information."
The WHO said Zimbabwe was very disappointing because its malaria cases were increasing instead of decreasing, therefore it would not test its new vaccine until the disease was "fully" controlled.
At a closed workshop, a WHO spokesperson said: "The WHO has indeed developed a new drug to combat malaria. Unfortunately Zimbabwe will not benefit from this drug just yet because its cases have not been consistent with WHO standards. While we are happy about the progress made by Zimbabwe, its cases go up and down, and we want them to remain down."
She said other African countries, mainly in the West, were already benefitting from the new drug.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/zimbabwe/55248/malaria-campaign-impressive-nihr.html?utm_source=thezim&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=listarticle&utm_content=textlink

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: "Blood Diamonds" Slip Through Watchdog's Cracks

Lily Hough : Jun 30, 2011 (IPS)

Following a recent procedural breakdown of one of the world's leading "blood diamond" watchdogs, experts warn that controversial stones from the Marange fields of Zimbabwe may soon find their way into the hands of unknowing consumers.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP), a voluntary self- regulation body, monitors the diamond industry by labeling shipments of conflict-free diamonds with a government-validated certificate, which guarantees consumers that their purchases do not finance human rights abuses.
The KP's procedural guidelines require its 49 members, which represent 75 countries, to reach an absolute consensus over the status of a diamond shipment before the product is certified.
Last week, the KP convened in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, to deliberate on whether or not Marange diamonds met KP's standards of production.
Notwithstanding the members' failure to reach the required consensus, exports of KP-certified diamonds from the Marange fields resumed – a move that has severely jeopardised the watchdog's credibility in the international community.
"The United States is deeply disappointed with the Kinshasa [proceedings] as [they] related to Zimbabwe," Victoria Nuland, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said in a statement last week.
"The United States believes that progress with respect to exports from the Marange area of Zimbabwe can occur solely through a mechanism agreed to by consensus among KP participants. Contrary to some [reports], the Kinshasa Intercessional did not reach a consensus text.
"We believe that work toward a solution must continue, and that until consensus is reached, exports from Marange should not proceed," she asserted.
Since Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe quickly seized control of the Marange diamond fields following their discovery in 2006, exports from the area have generously funded his repressive party and come under a harsh spotlight in the international community.
According to a 2009 report by Human Rights Watch, Mugabe's soldiers have massacred at least 200 individual miners and enlisted conscripted labourers - including children – who work in appalling conditions in locations where reports of torture and murder have gone unpunished.
A statement by HRW last week reported that the Kinshasa Intersessional came three months after its new chairperson Mathieu Yamba made a unilateral announcement authorising Zimbabwe to export Marange stones without any monitoring of human rights abuses or proof of compliance with KP requirements.
"Miners, retailers, and consumers have relied on the Kimberley Process to stop blood diamonds from being sold, but with Yamba's decision, the KP has betrayed their trust," said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch.
"What the KP has done here is essentially legitimised a dictator," Tom Zoellner, author of "The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire", told IPS. "The industry was acting in enlightened self interest when they [created] the KP, but it was never the ironclad mechanism that they sold it as...now, it has discredited itself thoroughly as a regulatory body."
The KP is no stranger to such criticism. Since its inception in 2000, a response to a decade of pressure from the United Nations, KP's protocol has often come under fire for conceptual weaknesses that limit its regulatory viability; particularly, its consistent failure to articulate a comprehensive definition of the term "conflict" even while purporting to be a global watchdog of "conflict diamonds".
"It had no provisions for when a government brutalises its own people," Zoellner told IPS. "When the Marange fields were discussed, the [KP] was one of the greatest gifts that came to Mugabe."
HRW added that, "[According to the KP's] rules, a conflict diamond is narrowly defined as one sold by a rebel group to wage war against a government."
"That definition has left a major loophole since it does not prevent a government like [Mugabe's] from committing abuses when it mines or sells diamonds," HRW said.
The KP's recently demonstrated indifference to its own established procedures should "serve as a signal for people to have even less confidence in the KP than [before]" and sharply question the group's ability to govern the international industry, Zoellner added.
While Australia, Canada and the EU have joined the U.S. in refusing to recognise Zimbabwean diamonds as "conflict free", others have been less inclined to take a moral stand.
The South Africa Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator (SADPMR) announced in a notice to its members, "we will [continue to] accept imports of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe."
Absent a universally accepted ban, China – Zimbabwe's close ally – is likely to follow suit.
Zoellner warned that the proliferation of conflict diamonds in these countries would generate unintentional involvement in the blood diamond industry, even among consumers whose countries have denounced the trade.
"Diamonds on the international market all go into a single pool. The reality is that the consumer has no control over where the diamond originated," Zoellner told IPS.
As the week advances without any apparent solutions to divisions among KP members, more shipments of conflict diamonds are sailing around the world, leaving open the possibility that consumers will unintentionally buy diamonds from the bloodstained Marange fields.
"I think this does represent a disgraceful chapter in the history of the diamond business and a lesson for the consumer," Zoellner told IPS. "We would do well to think about the social misery that this natural resource has brought along with its benefits." (END)
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56315

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Making the water safer

HARARE, 1 July 2011 (IRIN)

 Photo: IRIN
Progress towards fixing Zimbabwe's water infrastructure

A combined effort by donor agencies, foreign governments, local organizations and the Zimbabwean government is slowly improving the water infrastructure while reducing the chances that cholera will return.
The UN Children’s agency (UNICEF) agreed to supply water treatment chemicals until the end of June 2011 but this has been extended until March 2012, by which time it is hoped that the local government authorities will be able to purchase their own water treatment chemicals.
“Thus far, water treatment chemicals worth over US$10 million have been procured, including over 25,000 tonnes of aluminium sulphate, 700 tonnes of chlorine and 230 tonnes of high test hypochlorite,” UNICEF said in response to written questions from IRIN.
A cholera epidemic began in August 2008 and lasted for a year before it was officially declared at an end in July 2009, during which time it caused the deaths of more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 others.
The outbreak was attributed to dilapidated and broken sanitation and water infrastructure. Since then, there have been isolated outbreaks of the waterborne bacterial disease, which infects the gastrointestinal system, causing vomiting and diarrhoea. The resulting acute dehydration can kill within 24 hours if left untreated.
Supplying water treatment chemicals will ensure the continued provision of safe water to 20 urban councils and over 100 rural growth points, UNICEF said.
“We are grateful to UNICEF, who positively responded to our request for the extension and gradual withdrawal of the chemicals supply scheme,” Water Resources and Development minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told IRIN. “This provides our local authorities an opportunity to start planning for the procurement of the chemicals, using their own funds.”
The treatment works continued to struggle to produce enough water to meet the city’s [Bulawayo] water demands
The Federal Republic of Germany, through its development arm, German International Cooperation, is carrying out a US$12 million infrastructural rehabilitation at four urban centres: Gweru, the third largest city; Kariba on the northern border with Zambia; Norton, 40km south of the capital, Harare; and Kadoma, about 130km south of Harare.
“The two major components of the project provide, on the one hand, assistance to the municipalities with the procurement of key inputs and equipment for water supply, sanitation and solid waste collection,” the German embassy said in a statement. “The second component consists of support to the municipalities regarding the improvement of procedures and management in the areas of finance, accounting, billing and revenue collection.”
The funding will also help rehabilitate water supply and sanitation infrastructure such as treatment plants and pumping stations. Health and environmental activists have warned that the continued discharge of sewage and industrial waste into water systems will create environmental and health disasters in the near future.

Raw sewage discharge
Raw sewage and industrial waste is still being discharged into Lake Chivero, Harare’s main source of water, and an US$18 million rehabilitation of its two main sewerage treatment plants is underway.
However, Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, has failed to attract the US$1 million funding it needs to repair water infrastructure at one of its large dams, Ncema, and rehabilitate water treatment plants.
“The treatment works continued to struggle to produce enough water to meet the city’s water demands,” the minutes of a recent council meeting noted. “For example, Ncema waterworks can only produce 39,000 cubic metres per day, against a design capacity of 81,000 cubic metres per day.”
Poor rainfall in recent years has added to pressures on water supply and some businesses have relocated to other parts of the country.
“We are working well in partnership with the donor community, but treasury has provided us with money to build new dams or to improve water supply," water resources minister Nkomo told IRIN.
“We are almost done with building a 40km water pipeline from Mtshabezi Dam, which will improve water supply in Bulawayo. Construction has already started on the construction of Kunzvi Dam [near Harare], which we hope will improve water supply.”

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=93119

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Trophy hunting, crocodile farming help rural poor adapt

CHIREDZI, 29 June 2011 (IRIN)

 Photo: IRIN
Crocodiles skins and meat are big money earners

The mostly dry Chiredzi district in southeastern Zimbabwe will grow drier as rainfall becomes increasingly uncertain, but trophy hunting and rearing crocodiles for their meat and skins can become major money earners to help rural households overcome poverty while adapting to climate change.
In one of several initiatives under a project backed by the UN and government, elephants, warthogs, giraffes, buffaloes and impala - a type of antelope - are kept in an area measuring about 7,000 square kilometres and sold to trophy hunters licensed by the government in cooperation with the district authorities, while the community gets free meat from the slain animals.
"The project is now well established and the beneficiaries are building a school and a clinic from the money they receive from the sale of the animals," said Leonard Unganyi, who manages the project run jointly by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the government-controlled Environment Management Agency (EMA). "They have also bought a truck and set up a grain-grinding mill to benefit the community."
He said the project, which helps communities cope with drought and climate change, would be replicated in other parts of the country because 90 percent of Zimbabwean farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture and are struggling to become food secure.
Using revenue from community-based trophy hunting initiatives to generate income for sustainable development activities is not unusual. In the late 1990s, Pakistan pioneered development of the Community Based Trophy Hunting Programme (CBTHP), according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Pakistan runs several such projects, some in collaboration with UN and nature conservation agencies.
Finding sources of income to build the resilience of poor rural communities to erratic rainfall in Zimbabwe’s troubled economy is a tall order.
"Chiredzi district, which has always been vulnerable to drought, is one of the many areas countrywide that have been affected by climate change. Households have been severely affected by rainfall distribution, resulting in poor harvests," said UNDP-EMA's Unganyi.
Even though we have a garden, we cannot sell the vegetables because there is no one to buy
Susan Chivambu agreed. "There were hardly any rains to talk about in the last agricultural season and my family only managed to produce a few bags of maize. Very soon that will be gone and we will have to scrounge for food, just like we have done in the last three years."
Her family has been forced to sell some of their livestock every year. "Even though we have a garden, we cannot sell the vegetables because there is no one to buy," she said. Two goats she would be taking to the market for the fortnightly sale were tethered to a nearby tree.
"Adaptation to climate change is a fairly new phenomenon in Zimbabwe," said Unganyi. "There is a need for policies and strategies that empower affected local communities."
Tapping into another lucrative market, 300 households in Chilonga village in Chiredzi district have set up a cooperative crocodile farming project, now in its second year and close to becoming profitable. Each member contributes to the food and upkeep of the crocodiles.

 Photo: Contributor/IRIN
Evelyn Hanyani's cassava crop, unlike the hardy cereal sorghum, did well

The villagers have benefited from infrastructure left behind by a white commercial farmer, including ponds, incubators and boilers. William Tonono, a member of the crocodile project, told IRIN that they were rearing 880 crocodiles, some of which were ready for market.
"Even though we still have problems raising money to buy food and medicines for the crocodiles, we hope that when we sell our first batch, money problems will be a thing of the past," said Tonono. Zimbabwe’s export earnings from crocodile meat and skins are worth millions of dollars. A skin 40cm wide is valued at US$9 per centimetre, according to Padenga, a Zimbabwean company that trades in skins. UNDP-EMA will help the cooperative to market their produce.
"Our aim is to make sure that the money we realise from this project will be enough to provide our family needs, but judging by our progress, we will be able to buy cars in the near future," Tonono said.
Another initiative gives rural residents an alternative to dependence on their dwindling livestock. Families where Chivambu lives have been organized into clubs that breed fish in the nearby Masukwe Dam. They hope to harvest the first batch of fish by the end of 2011.

Cassava and hardier grains
Other families have been given the option of farming hardier crops like cassava, and small grains like sorghum and millet which thrive in dry conditions, but the results have been mixed.
Evelyn Hanyani’s cassava crop thrived and she hopes to sell some of the produce to support her family of 15, but her sorghum crop performed poorly, partly because of long dry spell in February 2011.
"We cook the cassava every morning and use it as a substitute for bread,” she said. We also grind it to prepare flour for bread, and sometimes use the ground powder in the place of maize-meal and pick the leaves to use as vegetables."
Her neighbour, Tsotsowani Makondo, 40, a mother of nine, opted to grow small grains. "Despite the drought in the area this year, I am happy with my yields. My family will not die of hunger because I harvested enough sorghum and millet to last me ‘til next year," Makondo told IRIN.
Her children are not used to eating millet and sorghum instead of Zimbabwe’s staple food, maize-meal, so she sells some of her produce to buy maize.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET) notes in its report on Zimbabwe in June 2011 that staple cereals are readily available nationally, but prices are higher than the same time in 2010. Predominantly rural districts like Chiredzi have not shown improved sources of income for poor households compared to a year ago.
The districts of Chiredzi, Buhera, Mangwe, Bikita, and Mutare reported the highest maize grain prices in Zimbabwe. FEWS-NET said the trend was likely to continue to 2012 because of the poor harvests in these areas. "This means access challenges for the poor households in the areas of concern will have worsened, and more households will be food insecure."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=93099

MALNUTRITION: Zimbabwe: Japanese government provides food aid

13 May 2011

MARANGE - School children who abandoned classes last term because of hunger are now back in school after the Japanese government came to their rescue. (Pictured: Children can return to school after food aid)
Students were forced to leave school due to malnutrition after their parents failed to harvest enough food during a long dry spell which hit the province. Netsai Mutsago, mother of two, confirmed that her two children had dropped out of school because of hunger but they had since returned due to food aid received.
Local food aid workers told The Zimbabwean that most students could not walk long distances to school because their bodies were weak and worn out. However, the Japanese government has channelled $1, 4 million through the Red Cross Society to prevent starvation in the diamond rich area.
Hunger in Marange has reached alarming levels with relief agencies calling for provision of emergency food supplies. The area has been affected by a series of droughts and villagers have not been able to reap a harvest from their fields for several consecutive farming seasons. Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) general secretary, Emma Kundishora revealed that her organisation has started food distribution to starving villagers.
She said the programme was a joint venture between the International Federation of Red Cross, Red Crescent Society and Japanese Government. ‘The programme will also assist other people groups across the country. The assistance we are receiving from our international partners will go a long way towards alleviating hunger from suffering villagers and children,’ Kundishora stated.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39567:japanese-government-provides-food-aid&catid=70:sunday-issue

MALNUTRITION: Zimbabwe: politicisation of food aid

The politicization of food has been used to control the outcomes of elections for almost thirty years. The Zimbabwe African Nation Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party has controlled elections since 1980, when Mugabe took control, by denying food to the opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The land that Mugabe seized was given to “government ministers and other ZANU-PF supporters for their patronage” (Sollom 25, 26). This destroyed the interior agriculture market, requiring the people of Zimbabwe to buy any food from neighbors cultivating small plots of land or from outside of the country. Mugabe also lied to NGOs, such as Save the Children and the World Food Programme, telling them that he would distribute food that he actually kept for supporters of ZANU-PF.
The resolution of the political problems in Zimbabwe could reverse the effects of malnutrition. On March 29, 2008, the MDC gained a majority in the House of Assembly, the first time ZANU-PF had lost a majority in the House. On that same day, the presidential candidate for MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the popular vote for president. However, “since neither [Mugabe nor Tsvangiari] won a simple majority,” Mugabe announced himself the winner by default and remained in office [Sollom 12]. The two parties had discussions at the South African Development Community, and agreed on letting Mugabe remain as president, while Tsvangiari would become prime minister. These transitions were to be coordinated by the South African government in order to maintain balance and neutrality. Sollom advises all developed nations to “maintain all targeted bilateral sanctions in place for Zimbabwe” until the government becomes democratic (43). The UN Security Council could recommend the case of Robert Mugabe to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, such as the denying of food to opposition supporters or the torturing of medical workers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malnutrition_in_Zimbabwe

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Threat of waterborne disease from unsafe water

HARARE, 15 April 2011 (IRIN)
 Photo: IRIN : Raw sewage flows in a Harare township in 2007 and was seen as the catalyst for the cholera outbreak the following year

Jennifer Madongonda, 43, shares a seven-roomed house with three other families in the low-income suburb of Budiriro, about 15km southwest of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Seven months ago the municipality cut off water supply because they couldn’t pay the bill.
"Water supplies to this suburb are very erratic. People get running water at most four times a week and for short periods, but for us who live at this house, it means nothing because we accumulated a huge bill that we are struggling to pay," Madongonda told IRIN.
"We used to rely on the boreholes that were set up in 2008 but most of them have broken down and no one has come to repair them. Our neighbours don't want to share their water because they are afraid they will accumulate huge bills too."
Budiriro was regarded as the epicentre of the cholera epidemic that began in August 2008 and lasted for a year before it was officially declared at an end in July 2009. The waterborne disease killed more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 others, and all water sources were found to be contaminated in the working class ssuburb.
Many neighbourhoods had dug shallow wells after the collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure in Zimbabwe’s economic implosion, creating ideal conditions for the proliferation of cholera, which infects the gastrointestinal system, causing vomiting and diarrhoea that can lead to acute dehydration; left untreated, it can kill within 24 hours.
To combat cholera, donor organizations, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Zimbabwe, drilled scores of boreholes, but many have since fallen into disrepair and at night it is not uncommon to see long queues at the few remaining working boreholes as residents jostle to get water for the next day.
We now cook at all sorts of times - sometimes at midnight or early morning - when we manage to get water
"We now cook at all sorts of times - sometimes at midnight or early morning - when we manage to get water. We can hardly spare any to wash clothes because we don't have containers big enough to store it," Madongonda said.
A stream about 5km away is used for laundry and bathing. "Many women complain of skin problems and we suspect it is because the water is polluted with sewage and dangerous chemicals dumped in the stream by factories. It will not be long before there is another cholera outbreak," she warned.
UNICEF Zimbabwe's head of communications, Micaela Marques de Souza, told IRIN the boreholes drilled "in response to the 2008/09 cholera outbreak were handed over, and are being maintained by Harare City [municipality]".
UNICEF had "also supported training of the staff of Harare City in the operation and maintenance of these boreholes. In order to ease the water shortages in these areas and Harare City, UNICEF has recently provided spares and tool kits [for the boreholes] to the Director of Health Services,” De Souza said.
In 2010 UNICEF drilled 43 additional boreholes in Harare, and is assisting in the rehabilitation of the capital’s main source of water, Morton Jeffery Water Works, where the pumps regularly break down because the municipality does not have enough money to buy spares.
"I am aware of the fact that most of the boreholes, even some drilled last year, have broken down because there are too many residents using them and some of them are careless, but I am surprised that we are supposed to be repairing them," a senior health official in the municipality’s public works department, who declined to be named, told IRIN.

Sanitation
Reticulated water is also becoming scarce In Glen Norah, the suburb next to Budiriro, where boreholes were also sunk to combat the cholera epidemic.
"A lot of people use the bush and buckets to relieve themselves because of the water shortages. Toilets are overflowing and our children suffer from running stomachs most of the time." The tap water was "suspicious", because whenever supplies returned briefly, it was dirty, Glen Norah resident Trymore Purazi, 28, told IRIN.
"We have been advised by health officials to leave the water to settle, but it is difficult to heed this advice because, in most cases, we would have waited the whole day to have water to cook and we would be very hungry," he said.
Chris Magadza, a researcher at the University of Zimbabwe, told participants at a recent workshop that "clinical studies carried out on Harare's water supplies, and the results obtained, revealed that the water bodies carry a significant amount of pollutants, which pose a potential health risk."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=92487

MALNUTRITION: Zimbabwe: One in Three Children in Zimbabwe Suffers From Malnutrition - UNICEF Study

Tatenda Gumbo & Patience Rusere
Washington 24 March 2011


Christian Care Director Forbes Matonga said supplementary feeding schemes were halted two years ago, leaving children far more vulnerable in times of food shortages like those now hitting Zimbabwe
One in three children in Zimbabwe suffers from chronic malnutrition, according to a new study by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the country's public health authorities, who have urged action to help vulnerable women as well as children.
The Situational Analysis on the Status of Women and Children’s Rights concluded that malnutrition could contribute to more than 12,000 deaths a year in the country.
UNICEF says Zimbabwe's malnutrition rates are similar to those of other countries in the region but have climbed sharply since 1994 to reach nearly 40 percent.
The report found that the lack of access by many women and children to basic social services and protections has contributed to their vulnerability, which has also been increased by high levels of poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe.
Nutritionists say remedial nutrition programs must target children in their first three years or so. Without adequate nutrition a child can fail to thrive, affecting early development, encouraging disease and eventually reducing abilities in adulthood.
World Food Program HIV/AIDS adviser and nutritionist Francesca Elderman told VOA Studio 7 reporter Tatenda Gumbo that regional organizations are putting together nutritional supplement packages to relieve the crisis.
Christian Care, a leading World Food Program distribution partner in Zimbabwe, says the suspension of supplementary feeding schemes could increase malnutrition.
Christian Care Director Forbes Matonga told reporter Patience Rusere that the program was abruptly halted two years ago, leaving children far more vulnerable in times of food shortages like those looming in several Zimbabwean provinces due to drought and rising costs which have put basic foodstuffs out of reach for many households.
http://www.voanews.com/zimbabwe/news/Child-Malnutrition-in-Zimbabwe-Rises-to-One-in-Three-118600144.html

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Dry spell ends prospect of good harvest

 Photo: Kate Holt/IRIN
Small farmers who lack irrigation have been most affected by the dry weather. A woman stands outside of her temporary home and dried up maize crop in Epworth, in Harare, Zimbabwe


HARARE, 11 March 2011 (IRIN) - A dry spell that has persisted for over a month, adversely affecting crops in many parts of Zimbabwe, could mean a lean year ahead for farmers.
"I am not even looking forward to picking a few green mealies [corn on the cob] to roast from my maize crop,“ said Merjury Mapanda, 55, a widow who looks after three grandchildren in Chirumanzu district, some 120km southeast of Gweru, capital of Midlands Province.
“All my sweat has gone to waste because the rains went away when the maize crop had reached a crucial stage and needed water very much," she said.
Mapanda planted her maize in early November 2010 and the crop was doing well until the end of January 2011, when the dry weather started.
"I assumed that the rains were giving us a break to tend our fields, but when the scorching sun persisted for more than three weeks, I became worried," she told IRIN. "The rains returned for only one day... up to now, we have had to watch as the crops wilted."
Even if the rains did return, it would be too late. "It is better to have the cattle and goats feeding on the crops because we are not going to harvest anything, with the exception perhaps of a few who planted early in October."
In the Goromonzi district in Mashonaland East Province, Josphat Ngwerume, 48, a communal farmer, had also been looking forward to a bumper harvest after a good start to the rainy season, but he has not been able to bring himself to visit his fields for the past two weeks.
"It reminds me of how much sweat I shed for nothing, and how much money I wasted. I harvested only enough to last me for three months last year and have been buying maize meal from the shops,” he told IRIN.
“It seems the situation is worse this year, and I don't know where I will get the money to buy food for the children."
Denford Chimbwanda, president of the Grain and Cereal Producers Association (GPCA), described the lack of rain as "devastating".
"Farmers are facing a very serious situation because of the dry spell. As an organization, we have done a preliminary assessment… and discovered that thousands of hectares of farmland on which different types of crops were being grown have been destroyed,” he told IRIN.
"Communal and resettled farmers are the most affected because they don't have irrigation facilities, but even commercial farmers will have their harvests crippled by the dry spell. The net effect of this is that Zimbabwe will have to depend on imports to meet its food requirements," Chimbwanda said.
Zimbabwe's 10-year economic crisis has taken a heavy toll on the country's agricultural sector. The high cost and shortage of inputs like seed and fertilizer saw steep declines in maize production, the main staple.
Harvests improved in 2009 and 2010, but about 1.7 million people are still food insecure and in need of assistance according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).
Innocent Makwiramiti, an economist based in the capital, Harare, said the need to import food would drive up prices, particularly maize, with a negative impact on the food security of poor households in rural as well as urban areas.
"They will not have enough money to buy adequate food, since the majority of them are already struggling to make ends meet," he noted.
However, Catherine Manase, spokesperson for the Food Security Network (FOSENET) a national NGO, told IRIN that while the dry spell had severely stressed crops, it was still too early to assess the extent of the damage.
"Assessments of the effects of the dry spell on food security are being carried out by various organizations, and it will not be possible to quantify the damage before they complete their studies," she said.
"The major problem is that farmers are no longer able to properly time their planting because of the changing climatic patterns, a situation that makes it vital for experts to trace the new trends and come up with conclusive recommendations on when to plant."
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which monitors food security in the region, noted in its latest update that "a positive crop production outlook [for Zimbabwe] has been halted by low rainfall", with the southern half of the country most affected.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=92158

POVERTY: Basic Income Grant (BIG) effectively alleviates poverty

04 Mar 2011

WINDHOEK – An unconditional basic income grant has been recommended by a recent study on inequalities in Southern Africa as an immediate intervention that would free millions from poverty and its debilitating effects.
Other recommendations made in the study for countries to reduce inequalities include alternative approaches to development and a need for developmental states in the region.
Experiences with social grants in some countries in the Southern African region, namely, Namibia, Malawi and South Africa, demonstrate that “unconditional rights-based grants not only reduce poverty significantly, but also pave the way for sustainable economic activities and or meaningful grassroots empowerment,” according to the publication “Tearing Us Apart: Inequalities in Southern Africa” edited by Herbert Jauch and Deprose Muchena.
The book documents five countries, namely, Malawi, Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe and their prevailing levels of poverty and inequalities in the region, with the aim to identify areas of intervention to reduce poverty and inequality and also to provide pro-poor alternatives needed to provide lasting solutions to the problem.
Southern Africa is rich in mineral resources yet poor in human development and remains one of the poorest regions in the world. Although most countries have registered considerable economic growth over the years and are said to be among the world’s fastest growing economies, statistics of poverty and inequalities do not correspond to these positive developments.
According to statistics, about 45 percent of the SADC population lives on N$7 a day, 40 percent of the labour force is unemployed or underemployed, the distribution of resources is skewed and most countries have a high Gini Co-efficient of more than 0.5 because of the income inequalities.
As a short-term measure, the study says that states should use their national budgets to deploy resources to ‘liberate the majority from the shackles of poverty and inequality’ by implementing a Basic Income Grant.
Three years ago Namibia, through the Basic Income Grant Coalition, implemented an N$100 grant that was last year reduced to N$80 for about 930 residents of Otjivero village.
The project has not only resulted in a reduction in poverty and malnutrition, but has also resulted in various economic activities and a reduction in crime.
Malawi introduced a Social Cash Transfer Scheme, which started with 11 000 households, to improve school enrolment, reduce child labour and improve access to health services.
This intervention resulted in increased enrolment and a reduction in school absenteeism, improved nutrition and food security and a reduction in child illnesses.
Although concerns have been raised over affordability, viability and fears the grants would create dependency, the study says “given resources available in the region, such grants are not only promising but also viable and affordable”.
Sentiments supporting cash transfers were echoed at a public lecture in Windhoek last week on ‘Cash Transfers to fight poverty: Experiences from Brazil,’ where participants felt that issues of poverty were treated with a laissez faire attitude.
“If you discover that I am hungry today, give me food today and don’t go and discuss it in Parliament,” said Immanuel Kadhikwa, who attended the lecture while Meriam Mavulu said a grant, little as it might, gives people who do not have an income the hope to go on in life.
While Angola has huge oil and gas reserves, diamonds and other minerals, two thirds of the 16 million people live in abject poverty. It is the largest supplier of crude oil to China and the seventh largest oil supplier to the USA. Despite this and the fast economic growth in the country, 68 percent of the population is poor and 28 percent extremely poor.
Angola remains a country with low human development. It ranked 162 out of 177 countries in 2008.
Malawi, among the least developed countries, is ranked 164 on the Human Development Index (HDI) of 2007/8.
It is said to be one of the fastest growing economies in Africa yet more than half of the population are poor, while one fifth are extremely poor.
Namibia has continued its legacy of inequality, which it inherited at Independence.
Some 20 percent of the population has access to wealth and opportunities.
South Africa, which is the envy of many countries in Africa, still has 53 percent of its population living in poverty.
The list of examples of inequalities and poverty in the region is endless and according to the publication, “The results of post colonial governments’ attempts to address inequality have been mixed and at most a collection of failed experiments.”
Until now, unemployment in the region has continued to rise, and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing, thus increasing a sense of injustice and deprivation for many Southern Africans.
“While oil, copper, gold, diamonds, chrome, gas, bauxite, fisheries and platinum are in plentiful supply in the region, unemployment is increasing, poverty is deepening and inequality between and within countries is widening,” said Open Society Initiative in Southern Africa (OSISA) Deputy Director, Deprose Muchena, in a presentation, ‘Curse of the Three Cousins: The Triple Burden of poverty, inequality and unemployment and search for alternatives in Southern Africa’.
The presentation was made during a conference on “Social Justice and the Responsibility of the State – The triple burden of poverty, inequality and unemployment”, last week.
Muchena said Southern Africa inherited underdevelopment, which is presently perpetuated by external dependency, and distributive, technical and allocative inefficiencies.
In addition, natural resources extraction has fueled the problem by contributing to increasing inequality and poverty.
“As extractive industry (EI) gains prominence as a basis of economic development, so do the negative indicators of human development. EI takes place in the context of enclave development where the extractive zones become enclaves, and become the centre of government and private sector attention and not the basis of diversification,” he said.
Alternative approaches to development would include taking an active role in developing and implementing policies that redress the unacceptable levels of inequality in the region.
Although development is linked to economics, development must include human rights, community rights and the right to regional and self-determination as well as dealing with issues of equity and fairness in the distribution of resources at all levels.
The human rights approach to development also entails provision of social services such as water, health, energy and education, which cannot be guaranteed for all if left to market forces alone.
“Social services are not matters to be privatized as they are part of basic human rights requiring states to have the responsibility to secure them for all their people,” says the publication.
It adds that “development must lead to a better life for the majority and eradicate poverty”, which can only be achieved if development is based on promotion and protection of human rights, economic rights and blue rights (political and civil rights).
By becoming developmental states, Southern African countries can change their focus from “being a provider of favourable investment conditions for foreign investors, towards a regulator and an economic player that can effect redistribution and facilitate the achievement of sustainable equality”.
Other measures that Southern Africa states should consider in the fight against poverty and inequality include mainstreaming gender, and involvement of mass movements, whose participation in democracy would lead to greater accountability regarding the use of state funds allocated to the fight against poverty.
If the current levels of inequality in Southern Africa, which are the highest in the world, are left unattended, they would continue to tear apart communities and societies in the region.

http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=37445

POVERTY: Zimbabwe poverty line rises to $467 monthly for family of 5 - more than twice average govt pay

Angus Shaw
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwean officials on Monday said it takes nearly $500 a month for families to be above the poverty line in this economically ravaged country, where most teachers and government workers earn less than half that amount.
The findings from the state statistics agency throw more weight behind the grievances of Zimbabwe's nearly 240,000 civil servants and other workers who plan to go on strike. Their average monthly incomes are around $200, well below what the agency says is now needed to support a family of five.
The former regional breadbasket is struggling to emerge from economic collapse and international isolation after President Robert Mugabe ordered the seizures of thousands of white-owned farms in 2000, disrupting the country's agriculture-based economy.
While Zimbabwe is no longer experiencing the world-record inflation of years past, the cost of living is still growing faster than most people's salaries.
In its latest bulletin, the agency Zimstat said a family of five needed a monthly income of $467 if it was to be defined as "not poor" and able to meet basic needs. That figure includes expenses for food, housing clothing, transportation, and education and health care.
The report did not account for one expense that appears to have become a necessity even for the poorest of the poor: mobile phones. Street vendors say they need phones to help them eke out a living buying and selling their wares.
A state regulatory body said more than two-thirds of the population — even beggars and street children — own 7 million mobile phones.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jx6Tx3MEm4Qt-FLGOLvZf74DOuVQ?docId=5810698

POVERTY: ZIMBABWE: Upbeat about the 2011 harvest

  Photo: Kate Holt/IRIN: Poor harvests a thing of the past?

HARARE, 14 January 2011 (IRIN) - Timely access to fertilizers, seeds and good rains have set Zimbabwe on course for a good harvest, say agriculture officials.
The Agriculture Minister, Joseph Made, told journalists the area planted with cereals such as sorghum and maize had increased by thousands of hectares this season from 2009-2010.
However, he cautioned that a good crop was only expected if rains persisted during January. Zimbabwe’s Meteorological Services has predicted heavy rains in the coming weeks.
The area planted with maize was up from 530,000ha in 2009-2010 to 660,000ha this season, said Made. Other grains had also seen their coverage increase from 110,000ha to 174,000ha.
In a decade marked by socio-economic instability, food production has begun to improve in Zimbabwe in the past two years.
A joint mission in 2010 by the UN World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that after the 2008 season, when less than 500,000 tons of maize was harvested, production more than doubled in 2009 and 2010, to 1.27 and 1.35 million tons respectively
Although expensive, maize seeds and fertilizers, unlike in previous years, have been available in the market.
The pro-ZANU-PF daily newspaper, The Herald, reported in December 2010 that the government had provided loans worth US$122.2 million to farmers for support during the 2010-2011 season, with banks providing $286 million to buy inputs.
More than 900,000 poor households have been given agricultural inputs, noted the FAO in its latest update.
But FAO said it was concerned about food price increases: between September and November 2010, the price of maize rose by some 26 percent in the capital, Harare, after having been stable in the previous months.
The price of maize meal, a staple food, has begun to climb in the past two months.
An estimated 1.7 million Zimbabweans will face severe food insecurity in the peak hunger period of January to March 2011, according to the 2011 UN Consolidated Appeal for Zimbabwe. About 38 percent of the $415 million appeal will take care of food-related needs - down from 50 percent in the last appeal for 2010.
The peak hunger period is when crops are planted and nurtured to maturity.
The appeal in December 2010 has received a little more than $680,000 funding so far, with pledges worth $2.9 million.

Army-worm outbreak
There has been a scare for the agriculturally rich provinces of Mashonaland Central and East in the north after army-worm caterpillars destroyed more than 50ha of planted maize. Farmers in the region said it was one of the most serious attacks in recent years.
The Herald newspaper said the attack threatened national food security, with another 800ha of planted sorghum, maize and pasture land at risk. But it quoted an agricultural official, Godfrey Chikwenhere, giving assurances that they had enough chemicals to deal with the caterpillars.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91632

MALNUTRITION: UN (OCHA): ZIMBABWE: Not enough progress to do without aid

9 December 2010 (IRIN) -
An appeal for US$415 million in humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe in 2011 has been made by the government and humanitarian organizations.
The humanitarian situation has improved in the last two years, but there were still "significant needs", the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in the capital, Harare, where the 2011 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) was launched.
"One in every three children in Zimbabwe is chronically malnourished, and malnutrition contributes to nearly 12,000 child deaths every year. An estimated 1.7 million Zimbabweans will face severe food insecurity during the peak hunger season from January to March 2011," OCHA said in a statement.
Urban farming has increasingly become a feature in cities and reflects the fragile nature of the country's food security, which reached its zenith in March 2009 when nearly 7 million people - almost two-thirds of the population - were receiving food assistance.
"Our hope is that if we get enough rains this year and part of next year [2011], then, through this urban agriculture that we practice, we may fend for our families,” said Sarudzayi Shoko, a domestic worker who has planted maize, the staple food, on vacant land in Harare's middle-class suburb of Belvedere.
“Unfortunately, we are almost at the end of the year and very little rains have fallen, and that is a cause for concern," Shoko told IRIN.
Unfortunately, we are almost at the end of the year and very little rains have fallen, and that is a cause for concern
The national food requirement is about 1.7 million tons, but only around 1.35 million tons was harvested in 2009/10.
The 1.8 million hectares planted to maize in 2009/10 represented a 20 percent increase from the previous year, but the greater amount of land under cultivation was not mirrored in the harvest, which only increased seven percent from the previous year.
In 2000, President Robert Mugabe launched the fast-track land reform programme, which redistributed more than 4,000 white commercial farms to landless blacks, and set in motion a decade-long economic malaise from which the country has struggled to recover.
"Whilst there has been an improvement in agricultural production over the last two seasons, the sector still faces many challenges and farmers will require input support," OCHA noted.
"In addition, although the scale of cholera has significantly reduced, localized outbreaks continued to be experienced due to the poor state of the health, and water sanitation and hygiene sectors. A third of rural Zimbabweans still lack access to safe water," OCHA said.

Bureaucratic blunders
A cholera epidemic that began in August 2008 and lasted for a year before it was officially declared at an end in July 2009 caused the deaths of more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 others.
Ignatius Chombo, minister of local government, rural and urban planning, said food production could also be affected by bureaucratic inefficiencies, after it was "discovered" that rural farmers in the southwestern provinces of Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South had failed to collect farming inputs worth an estimated US$30 million, set aside to benefit disadvantaged rural families.
Distribution of the inputs, which include seed and fertilizer, is the responsibility of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), a parastatal organization.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91334

POVERTY: Zimbabwe: Towards Eradication of Global Poverty

Published by the government of Zimbabwe 14 October 2010
The writer is an independent economist and finance analyst.

Harare — The UN Summit on Millennium Development Goals in September came amid a world awakening to the likely failure of meeting the 2015 deadline (against a 1990 baseline) with a mere five years remaining.
With the global economy still in the resuscitation ward from the devastating and debilitating effects of the global meltdown, UN secretary general Ban Ki- moon called for urgent action to steer the ship to harbour -- slashing poverty, hunger, child mortality under the auspicious theme "We can end poverty by 2015".
The Millennium Development Goals aim at eradicating global poverty, hence the millennium declaration: "We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to make the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want."
These have gone through an evolutionary metamorphosis drawing from different UN symposiums. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development adopted the same goals that were further refined in 2001.
The goals to which Zimbabwe is also part cover eight primary goals with 18 targets and 48 indicators. These in essence are:
l Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
l Achieving universal primary education;
l Promote gender equality and empower women;
l Reduce child mortality;
l Improve maternal health;
l Combat HIV and Aids, malaria and other diseases;
l Ensure environmental sustainability;
l Develop a global partner for development.
The first review of these goals was done in 2005, however the stock take by the summit revealed a target miss by most if not all the partners unless and until measures to accelerate the growth pace are adopted.
A research synopsis done by DFID indicated a study done on 30 countries which shockingly revealed that only 15 of the signatories were on target to meeting the MDG 1 (eradication of extreme poverty and hunger).
In addition 20 of the nations needed corrective action attaining the MDG 2 target of universal primary education and that only seven were on track to meeting the fifth goal of maternal health.
President Mugabe spoke at the summit calling for the lifting of the debilitating effects of sanctions on Zimbabwe, which are derailing efforts by the inclusive Government to steer the country to former prosperity.
Sadc echoed his sentiments, which called for assistance to countries which, are way off the target and also further appealed for the lifting of sanctions against Cuba.
What has contributed to most nations failing to be on course to meeting the targets included poor resources among a host of other ailments especially for the African countries and the emerging markets. A general lack of focus, accountability and a general sense of laxity on the part of individual countries were identified.
Some frightening and eye-brow raising facts revealed that no country in sub-Saharan Africa was on course to meeting these goals. The general progress has generally been uneven.
Overally, it was identified that people still living in abject poverty and hunger surpass the US$1 billion mark.
The phenomenon of multiple crises has not made life any easier, climate change, the global financial crises, volatile energy and food prices, loss of biodiversity have all made it worse.
Sovereignty of nations, national ownership and leadership are indispensable in the development process. The summit alluded to the fact that all countries ought to draw a sense of ownership and responsibility from the citizenry to the statesman.
Gender equality and overall empowerment of women were noted as chief pre-requisite to economic and social development. A call for full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was emphasised.
It was also acknowledged and noted of the successes in developing countries in combating extreme poverty, improving school enrolment and child health (Zimbabwe topping the list in terms of literacy rate). Reduction of child deaths; expansion of access to clean water; improving the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV; expanding access to HIV and Aids prevention; treatment, controlling and care of malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases were also covered.
Overally the plenary noted that progress has been slow and uneven between and within countries. Hunger and malnutrition were identified as having risen in the period 2007-2009.
The need for external funding especially for developing countries was noted as a chief pre-requisite especially for the achievement of goal 8 -- developing a global partnership for development.
A call was made for the implementation of Almaty programme and focus shifted to the Brussels Programme of action for the least developed countries for the decade 2001-2010 and now focus is on the all-important Fourth United Nations conference on the Least Developed Countries to be held in Instanbul in 2011.
Way Forward
The summit conclusively agreed that all countries were to continue implementing and monitoring their development strategies.
A re-affirmation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha declaration on financing for development in its entirety was also stressed.
A call was made for further reform and modernisation of the global financial architecture to aid preventive and response mechanisms in cases of emergencies.
In line with the continual isolation of the developing countries, most of which are African, the plenary agreed on the need to have greater representation in world bodies namely the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
It was noted the importance of promoting sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth for all countries in order to accelerate progress.
A strong promotion was done for the Global Jobs Pact and the need for job creation the world over stressed.
The donor community and aid agencies were called upon to provide adequate, timely and predictable assistance to conflict stricken countries.
The fight against corruption at both the national and international level was made a top priority red-light district.
The summit conclusively agreed that the promotion and protection of human rights will not be overemphasised as these are chief pre-requisite to global development.
Gender equality was also acknowledged as paramount to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
It was also noted of the importance of strengthening regional and sub-regional co-operation for accelerating national development strategy implementation.
Efforts to support South-South co-operation triangular co-operation were emphasised but the plenary agreed that this should not be a substitute for South-North co-operation but instead should be all embracing.
Over and above this, the summit was a resounding success in reminding humanity of the need to wipe away poverty for the betterment of mankind.
Most importantly it gave a refocus of the commitment each and every nation made and reminded the signatories to the MDGs of their role in improving the global community echoing the sentiments of the former secretary general Kofi Annan.
He said: "On this international day for the eradication of poverty, let us recognise that extreme poverty is a threat to human security everywhere.
Let us recall that poverty is a denial of human rights. For the first time in history, in this age of unprecedented wealth and technical prowess, we have the power to save humanity from this shameful scourge. Let us summon the will to do it".
http://allafrica.com/stories/201010140173.html

POVERTY: Poverty is the biggest obstacle to stopping the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe

Sandra Nyaira

Washington 27 September 2010
Poverty is the biggest obstacle to stopping the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe, Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe said Monday at a UNAIDS meeting focused on stopping the epidemic among women and girls.
"Poverty undermines the ability of young girls and women to protect themselves from the epidemic as most adopt coping strategies that expose them to the risk of HIV/Aids," said Khupe,recently appointed goodwill ambassador for the campaign to accelerated reduced maternal mortality in Africa.
"Gender inequality and unequal power relations between women and men continues to influence the spread of HIV/Aids epidemic," Khupe told the gathering. "And a number of socio-economic and religious related gender issues also predispose women and girls to HIV infections."
In Zimbabwe, female university students without incomes ended up selling their bodies to get a few dollars for their upkeep, exposing themselves to the deadly virus, Khupe told the meeting.
Khupe said Zimbabwe lacks sufficient financial resources to fight HIV/AIDS. She said she intended to seek additional funds to bolster the country’s efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
The conference was called for the purpose of creating a new and sustainable network of female legislators and ministers from around Africa to fight HIV and develop policy implementation plans for the UNAIDS agenda for accelerated country action at the national and regional level, organizers said.
http://www.voanews.com/zimbabwe/news/Deputy-Prime-Minister-Khupe-Says-Poverty-Is-Zimbabwes-Biggest-Challenge-In-Tackling-HIV-103884114.html

MALNUTRITION: ZIMBABWE: Big hope for small grains

Photo: Jaspreet Kindra/IRIN

Small grains preferred
HARARE, 15 October 2010 (IRIN) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a project in Zimbabwe recently to promote the use of small grains such as millet and sorghum to boost food security in three drought-prone provinces - Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Masvingo.
Small grains are considered drought tolerant and have better nutritional value than maize, which is viewed as an unsuitable crop in these provinces.
The US$399,000 project - Promoting Production, Processing and Marketing of Small Grains in the Marginal Areas in Zimbabwe - which envisages the provision of improved seed varieties, will target small farmers, and aims to be up and running by the rainy season starting in the next few weeks.
It will provide small grain inputs sufficient for the cultivation of half a hectare, and this will also enable farmers to produce seeds for the next planting season.
Gaoju Han, FAO's sub-regional director for Southern Africa and Zimbabwe's country representative, said: "The project will also build the capacity of community based smallholder seed producers so as to ensure sustainable availability of high quality small grains seed."
Ministry of Agriculture extension workers will provide assistance and training on the production of small grains, and inform communal farmers of their benefits.
Challenges
Han said production of small grains over the years had faced several obstacles, including the limited access to seed, poor prices, low yields and the huge flocks of voracious red-billed quelea birds.
"These challenges have contributed towards the reduction in the area allocated to small grains on the one hand, and an expansion of the maize area on the other. FAO’s aim is to assist the Ministry of Agriculture to address these and other challenges that have limited the production of small grains by smallholder farmers," he said.
"What is now required is for the key players to exploit the unique attributes of small grains such as drought tolerance and their better nutritional value compared to other cereal crops," Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Ngoni Masoka told IRIN.
Food security expert and the former Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Davidson Mugabe said the launch was welcome and if properly conducted, would go a long way towards ensuring food security.
We need as a country to come up with policies that ensure that we grow crops which are suitable to the different regions
"We need as a country to come up with policies that ensure that we grow crops which are suitable to the different regions, and the three provinces for the programme are ideal for small grains because they record low annual rainfall," he said.
Zimbabwe's rapid decline from food security has been blamed on a combination of events - including droughts and the disruption of agriculture in 2000, when President Robert Mugabe launched the fast-track land reform programme, which redistributed more than 4,000 white commercial farms to landless blacks.
In the first quarter of 2009 about seven million people - more than half the population - depended on food assistance. The government estimates about 1.3 million people will require food assistance in the first quarter of 2011.
Marketing
Davidson Mugabe said it was also important to popularize the consumption of small grains and there was a "need for innovation when processing food from small grains. Only recently I ate a cake made from millet."
Dumisani Nyoni, the provincial agricultural officer for Matabeleland North, told IRIN farmers’ yields in the province had in recent years been declining.
"The farmers would save some [small] grain [seed] from their harvest which they continued to use as seed and over the years yields had gone down. When we introduce new seed varieties to the farmers, their produce will be higher. One challenge though that needs to be tackled urgently will be the threat posed by quelea birds which are a problem in the province. The department of national parks [needs] to be capacitated in order to eliminate that menace."
Quelea birds, which roam in flocks that can grow to millions, prefer the seeds of wild grasses to those of cultivated crops, but their numbers make them a constant threat to fields of sorghum, wheat, barley, millet and rice.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90783

MALNUTRITION: Zimbabwe: WFP warns of toddler malnutrition

Vusimuzi Bhebhe
04 September 2010
HARARE – Less than 10 percent of Zimbabwe’s children aged two and under are consuming a diet that is “minimally acceptable”, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a report published last week.The UN agency said the majority of Zimbabwean toddlers were at risk of malnutrition due to a lack of balanced diets.“Only 8.4 percent of children under 2 are consuming a diet that is minimally acceptable,” WFP said in the latest Global Update: Food Security Monitoring released on Tuesday.The WFP report corroborates a recent joint survey by the Zimbabwe government and the UN Food and Nutrition Council FNC) which found that more than a third of children aged below five in the southern African country are malnourished.The Zimbabwe National Nutrition Survey carried out in January 2010 revealed a worsening problem of chronic malnutrition, posing long-term survival and development challenges for the southern African country that is battling to shake off the effects of a 10-year recession and political strife.Once a net food exporter Zimbabwe has faced food shortages since President Robert Mugabe’s controversial land reform programme that he launched in 2000 and which has seen agricultural output plummet because the government failed to provide blacks resettled on former white farms with inputs and skills training to maintain production.A unity government formed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe last year is pushing to revive the economy although it has to date failed to ensure law and order in the mainstay agricultural sector where mobs of supporters of Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party continue harassing the few remaining white commercial farmers.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33944:wfp-warns-of-toddler-malnutrition-&catid=52&Itemid=32