Africa

Africa

Drought-stricken Zimbabwe declares state of disaster

05 February 2016 23:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Cattle, thin like their owners, wander in a parched riverbed. Desperate villagers barter a few fish for maize because there is no money for food. In this drought-stricken area of Zimbabwe, some people allege that who you know determines whether you'll get state food aid, with those out of favor with local officials going hungry, APA reports quoting Associated Press.

Underscoring the severity of the drought linked to the El Nino weather pattern hitting much of southern Africa, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster Thursday, with the hope of speeding up the flow of aid to needy communities.

The drought has devastated crops. The situation is especially acute in Zimbabwe, where a declining economy and rising unemployment have made life hard for many people in a country once known as a regional breadbasket.

Mugabe's declaration makes it easier for the World Food Program and other agencies to mobilize assistance for Zimbabwe, Eddie Rowe, WFP country director, said Friday. Lack of such a declaration puts Zimbabwe on the periphery, given the competing demands for humanitarian assistance worldwide, Rowe said.

The number of Zimbabweans in need of urgent food aid has spiked to about one quarter of the population of 13 million people, according to the WFP, a United Nations agency. That number could go even higher and the food crisis could spill into next year, said Prisca Mupfumira, Zimbabwe's minister for public service, labor and social welfare