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Tuesday 21 February 2006


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IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 251 for 1-7 Oct 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

MALAWI: Irrigation brings hope to the drought-hit south
ZIMBABWE: Street vendors slip back quietly after urban clean-up campaign
ZAMBIA: Fuel crisis may stall food imports
SWAZILAND: Govt gears up to tackle water crisis
ANGOLA: Ongoing challenges facing almost 100,000 displaced
SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa boosts aid to region

MALAWI: Irrigation brings hope to the drought-hit south

In the arid landscape of Malawi's drought-hit southern Nsanje district there is a 12 ha lush-green field of maize that will be harvested by the end of November; it is perhaps the only food output in the district in many months.

The farm is part of a pilot irrigation scheme called Sapatongwe, watered by the perennial Shire river that flows through the drought-prone district for at least 200 km.

Full report

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School-feeding programme helps the whole family

Mpudu Mulende scrapes every last bit of the nutritious soya porridge from his plate. There is no food at home, and this one meal a day he gets at school is all the six-year old can rely on.

His parents were lucky: his school is one of 249 in drought-hit southern Malawi that are part of a UN World Food Programme (WFP) initiative that keeps 200,000 children in class by feeding them.

Full report

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Political crisis may jeopardise assistance, UK High Commissioner

The ongoing political crisis in Malawi has distracted government and caused parliament to lose focus amid a hunger crisis threatening more than four million people, and could also jeopardise foreign development assistance, according to British High Commissioner to Malawi David Pearey.

Full report

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Hungry season arrives early for rural poor

In Malawi's drought-hit southern district of Bangwe, people begin queuing as early as 3.00 a.m. outside the depot of the state grain marketer Admarc for subsidised maize-meal.

The demand is such, after the worst harvest in a decade, that ADMARC has been forced to introduce rationing, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

Full report

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ZIMBABWE: Street vendors slip back quietly after urban clean up campaign

Five months after the Zimbabwean government cleared the streets of urban centres across the country of vendors, beggars and street children, informal traders are trickling back but are forced to play hide-and-seek as police prowl the pavements on the lookout for illegal operators.

Full report

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Drought tightens grip on already parched Matabeleland

Persistent water shortages in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, have forced local authorities to deploy bowsers in several high-density townships to ease the situation.

Water rationing has also intensified, with each household being allowed only 60 litres a day. An average bath takes 50 to 150 litres.

Full report

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Cost of living soars for urban families

Galloping inflation is sapping the purchasing power of urban Zimbabweans, according to a new report by the country's consumer watchdog.

The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said on Wednesday that basic expenditure for an urban family of six had shot up from about Zim $6.9 million (US $265) in September to Zim $9.9 million (US $380) in October.

Full report

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IMF, govt differ over economic outlook

In the absence of any bold changes in policy direction, Zimbabwe's economic outlook remains bleak, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The executive board noted that the annual IMF staff report on Zimbabwe showed an ongoing socioeconomic decline that would have "particularly detrimental effects on the poorest segments of the population".

Full report

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Doubt over govt's ability to import sufficient maize as hunger figures rise

A senior food security expert in Zimbabwe on Wednesday said the government will have to work more closely with the international community if it hopes to feed millions of people facing shortages this year.

The EU official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that despite a "significant effort" by the government to import urgently needed maize in recent months, there remained "much uncertainty" over whether it would meet the country's requirements.

Full report

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Government determined to keep city "clean"

The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) said on Tuesday that the arrest of thousands of informal traders over the past two weeks was likely to exacerbate the economic crisis in the capital city.

On Monday the official newspaper, The Herald, reported that around 14,000 illegal vendors and foreign currency and fuel dealers had been arrested during a follow-up operation to the urban clean-up campaign earlier this year.

Full report

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Rural areas feel bite of hunger ahead of lean season

Poor rural households in drought-ravaged southern Zimbabwe have exhausted their food stocks and are resorting to eating wild roots in a bid to stave off hunger, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

Erratic supplies by the state's Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the lack of essential commodities in rural shops have combined to undermine food security in the semi-arid Matabeleland region, aid workers told IRIN.

Full report

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Queuing becomes essential skill as shelves empty

Three hours of standing in a queue for maize-meal looked like it was about to pay off when the line suddenly disintegrated amid despairing groans and some furious name-calling - the supermarket had just run out of Zimbabwe's staple food.

Shoppers in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, are rationed to 10 kg of maize-meal per person, but finding it - and indeed most other basic essentials - on the shelves is no easy matter.

Full report

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ZAMBIA: Fuel crisis may stall food imports

A fuel crisis in Zambia will hamper efforts to import maize to mitigate food shortages in the country, says Oxfam country programme manager Ric Goodman.

Faced with rising food prices and dwindling supplies of basic commodities, the Zambian government announced last week that it would waive the 15 percent import duty on commercial maize to encourage traders to import the staple food.

Full report

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SWAZILAND: Govt gears up to tackle water crisis

Swaziland's Water Services Board is gearing up to truck six million litres of water to drought-stricken areas along the border with Mozambique as the country grapples with a serious water crisis, IRIN reported on Thursday.

"I urged government over two weeks ago to instruct the Disaster Task Force to treat the situation as an emergency," said Minister of Agriculture Mtiti Fakudze, who is also the parliamentary representative for the Dvokodvweni constituency in eastern Swaziland.

Full report

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Govt vows to bring weekend bombers to justice

Investigations into a series of fire bombings in Swaziland at the weekend continued on Tuesday as authorities vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The police have intimated that the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), a coalition of banned opposition parties, may be behind the incidents. PUDEMO has denied any involvement.

Full report

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ANGOLA: Ongoing challenges facing almost 100,000 displaced

More than three years after the end of Angola's protracted civil conflict, almost 100,000 displaced people are still unable to return to their homes, according to a recent study.

Findings from a joint assessment carried out earlier this year by the United Nations and the government revealed that although some four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have made their way home since April 2002, more than 91,000 remained in limbo, mainly in Cabinda, Huila, Kuando Kubango, Luanda and Moxico provinces.

Full report

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SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa boosts aid to region

South Africa has announced a R140 million (US $22 million) donation to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to alleviate food shortages in Southern Africa.

The Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs said in a statement that the government had agreed "to provide humanitarian food aid assistance and to support the rehabilitation of agricultural production in seven countries in the region ... Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe".

Full report

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent SOUTHERN AFRICA reports:

Policy revised to shed light on urban refugee blind-spot, 17/Feb/06

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 270 for 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

Too white to be black - the challenge of albinism, 16/Feb/06

Remittances - curse or blessing?, 16/Feb/06

Conflict, development and natural disasters fuel internal displacement, 14/Feb/06

Other recent reports:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Donors pledge support for humanitarian crisis, 21/Feb/06

ANGOLA: Ready to play larger security role in Africa, 21/Feb/06

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 17/Feb/06

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 270 for 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 317 covering 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

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