Zimbabwe’s government has diverted $18-million meant to rescuscitate businesses struggling in the harsh economy to help feed millions of people threatened by famine, a state-run daily said Wednesday.
”We had to take such action because of the need to feed the nation in the wake of the drought requirements,” the Herald quoted an official in the trade and industry ministry as saying.
The government had budgeted money to revive hundreds of private companies that shut in the southern African country’s harsh economic climate, but the funds have had to be diverted to emergency food relief.
This year’s budget has already been revised to meet the country’s food needs, and last month the finance minister sought parliament’s approval for a supplementary budget to finance more food needs.
Zimbabwe has to import up to 1,8-million tons of corn, one of the country’s staple foods, to avert mass starvation. The government estimates that 7,8-million people face famine, including 5,4-million children.
In addition to corn shortages, blamed on drought and disruptions on farms caused by controversial government-backed land reforms, Zimbabwe also suffers shortages of basic commodities including cooking oil, sugar and salt.
Grain shortages have forced the government to reconsider its position and accept a consignment of 20 000 tons of US grain, despite concerns that it might have been genetically modified.
In June, Harare rejected a donation of maize from the US because it was not certified as being free of any genetic manipulation.
In April, President Robert Mugabe declared a state of emergency, opening the doors for international aid to a country which was, in the past, a regional breadbasket. – Sapa-AFP