Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
THE number of people receiving food aid has increased by nearly 50 000, the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Cde Tapiwa Matangaidze, has said.
The Deputy Minister said the increase in the number of households receiving maize was attributed to an increase in distress calls from provinces.
He said the distress calls necessitated that beneficiary registers be updated all over the country as households requesting food assistance had to be assessed and registered.
“Mr Speaker Sir, the food deficit mitigation programme has over the period continued with its noble task of feeding the food insecure households in all the 10 provinces in Zimbabwe.
“This was an intervention to cushion the food insecure against the harsh effects of the El Nino induced drought.
“By end of January 2017, the number of households receiving food assistance stood at 809 279 and it reached 854 744 households by end of May, 2017,” the deputy Minister told the National Assembly.
Recently, Cde Matangaidze told Parliamentarians that Government will not stop providing food to the vulnerable.
“That programme will always be ongoing because that is dependent on the current registers which are there and for as long as vulnerable people will always be there. So, it is a social protection net which is there,” he said.
Three weeks ago, the Government resumed maize distribution in Bulawayo with beneficiaries getting their allocations dating back to March.
The distribution of maize had been suspended in February owing to transport challenges, but this time around beneficiaries were asked to contribute 30 cents per 50kg bag for transportation.
The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) is conducting a study to establish how to continue supporting those in need of food.
@AuxiliaK