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FOOD shortages have reached critical levels in Matabeleland North with reports that the province’s harvest from the just ended farming season can only last for three months. This emerged during yesterday’s provincial development committee meeting in Bulawayo where stakeholders called for urgent measures to avert starvation.
Presenting a report on the food situation in the province an official from Agritex, Mr Alpha Ndlovu said a majority of families did not harvest much from the last farming season.
“We conducted a crop assessment as a province, which revealed that yields from the last season were very low due to poor rains.
“The national report is not yet out but from our assessment the province has food that can only last for five months from April.”
Mr Ndlovu said about 1 590 tonnes of maize have been allocated to the province under the grain loan scheme.
He said so far 996 tonnes have been delivered while about 500 tonnes were expected to be delivered from Zambia.
On winter wheat, Mr Ndlovu said only 170 hectares have been planted against a targeted 400 hectares.
The figure is low compared to 300 hectares planted on last year.
He attributed the low hectarage to shortage of inputs and lack of efficient equipment.
District administrators said most families in the province were in need of food aid and urged the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to increase its maize stocks to avert disaster.
Tsholotsho district administrator Ms Nosizi Dube said her district was the hardest hit as it only had food that could only last for less than two months.
“The report shows that as a district our food reserves can last for two months from April.
“This means there is no one with food in Tsholotsho now since we are in June. People are already starving,” she said.
Provincial physical planner Mr Francis Ndlovu said the food situation in Matabeleland North was critical and called for urgent measures to resuscitate irrigation schemes to improve food production.
Provincial administrator Ms Latiso Dlamini also said measures should be put in place to lobby policy makers to improve irrigation production.
However, a GMB official in Lupane said about 36 tonnes of rice donated by President Mugabe to vulnerable groups has been lying idle at the district depot. “This rice has been there from October last year and it has not been distributed. It is stored in the open and the rodents are destroying it when there are people who are starving,” said the official.
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