Villagers await food aid

Masvingo Bureau
Villagers in drought-ravaged southern parts of Masvingo are on the brink of starvation owing to crippling food shortages with Government and donor organisations still to deliver assistance resulting in the price of maize rising on the black market in Zaka, Mwenezi and Chiredzi.Maize traders, who are reportedly importing maize from Mashonaland provinces, are flourishing in Mwenezi, Zaka and Chiredzi where they are cashing in on hungry and desperate villagers with the price of a 20-litre bucket of maize having shot up over the past three months from about US$5 per bucket to US$10.

The precarious food situation in southern Masvingo comes as the GMB depots at Jerera in Zaka, Nandi in Chiredzi and Rutenga in Mwenezi are empty.

Government and the World Food Programme recently announced that they would soon start distribution of drought relief in southern Masvingo following poor harvests which left most households requiring food assistance.

In Zaka, food shortages are more severe in Benzi, Veza and Mageza communal lands where villagers say Government should urgently provide cheap maize as they could not afford to buy maize-meal in shops.