About 2,2 million people require immediate food assistance.

By Nyasha Chingono

DESPITE the forecast 2016/17 bumper harvest, most poor households, mainly subsistence farmers will be in danger of starving by September due to depleted food stock levels, a food security barometer has warned.
In its latest update, Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) says most poor households in the Southern region where incessant rains left villages with little to harvest would face extreme hunger and would require urgent food aid in coming months.
“Current food security outcomes across the country are minimal as households across all wealth groups continue to consume own-produced stocks. However, from August to September, poor households in parts of the south and marginal north will start to experience stressed outcomes as own-produced stocks become limited and households begin to also face increasing challenges in meeting their other basic livelihood needs,” reads the report.
This means two months before the commencement of the 2017/18 summer cropping season some households would be required to fork out scarce cash to purchase grain.
While cereals like maize would be readily available in most parts of the country, some regions were staring hunger as food stocks continue to dwindle.
The report warned that the peak of food scarcity would be between October 2017 to January 2017, which is also generally regarded as the lean season, characterised by low levels of food supplies, high grain prices and uncertainty regarding the next rainy season.
Government has declared that this year the country has a bumper harvest as most parts of the country harvested minimal to above minimal grain.
A World Bank economic performance report, however, indicates that about 2,2 million people were still in danger of starvation.
Areas likely to face starvation include parts of Zimbabwe that were hit by Cyclone Dineo that ravaged and displaced many villagers in areas like Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North.
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