Africa News Summary : News Headlines : Discussion Forums

HARARE, March 26 (AFP) - The UN World Food Progamme (WFP) warned Tuesday that southern Africa's deepening food crisis could develop into a major disaster unless Western donors step up emergency aid.

"It is extremely clear that a major crisis is on the horizon. Now is the time to act to prevent what is now a crisis from developing into a major disaster," Judith Lewis, WFP's director for east and southern Africa, said in a statement.

"Donor response to repeated WFP appeals has been sluggish, and now the agency requires urgently 69 million dollars (145,866 tonnes of food) to ward off an imminent break in food supplies, particularly for people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe," the WFP said.

Drought, floods and high prices for imported staple foods have left millions across southern Africa relying on handouts.

Farmers in Zimbabwe, normally the region's breadbasket, say April's maize harvest will be minimal, after a sharp reduction last year resulting from disruptions to commercial farming under President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reforms.

From 2.4 million tonnes in 2000, when ruling party supporters began invading white-owned farms, output fell to 800,000 tonnes last year.

Zimbabwe's 12 million people consume between 1.8 million and two million tonnes of maize per year, and the country normally exports surplus grain.

The shortfall is having a knock-on effect in neighboring countries. More than 300 people have starved to death in recent weeks in Malawi and Zambia alone.

"Despite WFP food distributions under way in the southern African region, hunger continues to worsen for a growing number of people who cannot afford current high maize prices and who have sold off their meagre belongings," the WFP said.

"Much more must be swiftly done to stave off the spread of hunger and malnutrition," Lewis said, appealing to donors for immediate aid.

"If we can't get enough food to feed 2.6 million people right now, what will happen when potentially millions more need our help in months ahead?" she asked.

In Zambia, last year's floods and this year's drought have left 1.3 million people on the verge of starvation, yet only 40 percent of the 19 million dollars sought by WFP for food aid has been received, the UN agency said.

Zambian officials last week reported that at least 33 people had died of hunger in the previous fortnight.

The WFP said it had only "just enough to feed the most vulnerable groups (in Zambia), against tremendous pressure to assist much larger numbers."

It said it was struggling to feed some 117,000 refugees who had fled to Zambia from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and who had been on half-rations since January in the face of dwindling food aid.

It said a convoy of food aid currently on its way from South Africa would ease the crisis in Zambia temporarily but that 9.2 million dollars was "urgently" needed to prevent food rations being cut later this year.

In Zimbabwe, the WFP said donors had contributed only 30 percent of the 60 million dollars required to feed nearly 560,000 starving people and all food supplies could run out by July.

It blamed Zimbabwe's woes on "the impact of the land reform and economic hardship, combined with failed rains in key production areas", saying the country might have to import more than one million tons of maize from overstretched South Africa.

The number of people relying on outside food aid in Zimbabwe is set to rise, the WFP warned.

In Malawi the price of the staple food maize has soared by as much as fivefold but the WFP said it had received no contributions following an appeal for 4.2 million dollars in emergency aid to feed some 255,000 people.

The government of President Bakili Muluzi appealed for 21.6 million dollars in emergency aid late February, saying some 300 people had starved to death since the start of the year.

Mozambique, which was hit by devastating floods in 2000 and 2001, is now suffering from drought, the WFP said, warning: "Thousands of people are likely to need assistance over the months to come."

Lesotho and Swaziland, which do not normally require emergency food aid, are this year expected to seek international assistance, the agency said. The WFP has already started distributing food to some 36,000 people in the worst-hit pockets of Swaziland.

"The situation for people all over southern Africa is very bleak," Lewis said.

The scarcity of food is putting even greater strain on HIV/AIDS victims in the region, which has an "extraordinarily" high rate of infection, he said.- Nampa-AFP