adminGeorge Maponga in Masvingo
Government has provided 1 000 tonnes of grain to feed 3 000 families at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi displaced by flooding in the Tokwe-Mukosi basin at the beginning of the year.
The grain is already being moved to the GMB depot at Rutenga Growth Point and will be ferried by rail to Mbizi siding in Nuanetsi for distribution.
The release of the grain comes after the World Food Programme brought the curtain down on its 800-tonne feeding programme for the families last month.
Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Kudakwashe Bhasikiti on Tuesday said the grain released by Government would be enough to cater for the flood victims until next year’s harvest.
Minister Bhasikiti said distribution of the grain was expected to start this month.
“The Department of Social Welfare has supplied families at Nuanetsi with 900 tonnes of maize, which is more than enough to last them until after harvesting next year. The maize will go a long way in easing the critical shortage of food that was beginning to affect the flood victims and we are very grateful to Government for the maize delivery,’’ he said.
Minister Bhasikiti said the families required about 156 tonnes of maize every month.
“We have since opened a satellite depot at Mbizi where the grain will be stocked,’’ he said.
He said Government was assessing maize seed requirements for the families ahead of the agricultural season.
“We are going to give each family at Nuanetsi a 10kg bag of seed. At the moment we are trying to establish the type of seed they require because we want to make sure that they achieve food self-sufficiency, ’’said Minister Bhasikiti.
The flood victims were surviving on donated food ever since their relocation from the flooded Tokwe-Mukosi basin in March this year.
Online Reporter