HARARE, 8 September 2009 (IRINNEWS):- The government, NGOs and donor countries in Zimbabwe are rushing to distribute agricultural inputs ahead of the summer rains, but ending donor dependency and returning to food security in 2010 will still be a close-run thing, analysts told IRIN.
In the first quarter of 2009 nearly seven million Zimbabweans relied on emergency food aid; initial forecasts by aid agencies are that about 2,8 million people will require food assistance in the last few months leading up to the April 2010 harvest.
The unavailability of agricultural inputs like seed and fertilizer during Zimbabwe’s economic implosion, as well as unseasonal dry spells, made the country – once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa – dependent on food aid to stave off starvation for several years.
Renson Gasela, agriculture secretary in the break-away faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Arthur Mutumbara, told IRIN there was a marked change from previous years in helping farmers access inputs, but warned that the effort may have been left to late. October is the main planting season.
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