United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee has raised serious concern with Harare’s continued ban of food aid even as millions are on the verge of starvation.
Harare banned some NGO's from distributing food accusing them of politicizing food distribution to effect regime change.
More than 5 million Zimbabweans will suffer food insecurity in the next nine months, a million people more than the previous year, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) said in its crop assessment forecast released on 18 June.
"The Mission estimates that 2.04 million people in
rural and urban areas will be food insecure between July and September 2008,
rising to 3.8 million people between October and peaking to about 5.1 million
at the height of the hungry season between January and March 2009," the
report said.
Ambassador McGee told reporter Blessing Zulu of
VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that there is food available but that Harare has
stopped its distribution.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...
