wfn.org | Villagers Report General Lack of Food in Zimbabwe

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Chronic Fuel Shortage Hampers Food Aid Delivery

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe/GENEVA, 30 October 2002 (LWI) - "Parched and
barren" is the way ACT * (Action by Churches Together) Press
Officer Rainer Lang describes Zimbabwe's southern province of
Matebele, where a lingering drought has withered the crops on
their stalks and turned the lowland region into a dustbowl.

According to Lang, in Matebele on October 22, villagers are
reporting a general lack of food, with a real need for sugar,
bread and cooking oil. He quotes Chosen Dube, a staff person of
the Lutheran World Federation's (LWF) Development Service
(LWF/LDS), as saying that the chronic shortage of fuel in the
country hampers food aid delivery. Even if the money is available,
there is often no fuel to buy, Dube said. ACT is a global network
of churches and related agencies responding to emergencies
worldwide. It is based with the LWF and World Council of Churches
in Geneva.

Lang reports that there is a general sense of despair in the
region. Many factors are contributing to the emergency in Zimbabwe
- amongst others, an economy in ruins and staggering HIV/AIDS
figures. Apart from delivering food aid, the LDS, a country
program of the LWF Department of World Service, also helps raise
awareness about the disease. The program has had an impact
according to Dube, but perhaps not as significant as would have
been expected. Most people that Lang spoke to expressed concern
that the crisis was deepening.

Meanwhile, Ecumenical News Inernational (ENI) reports from Harare
that President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at charities and
international aid agencies working in Zimbabwe for "meddling with
our national affairs," banning the United Kingdom-based Save the
Children from distributing food aid in a critical district. The
president also singled out the Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace, which his government accuses of backing opposition
candidates in rural district council elections in the
north-western district of Binga, where the opposition recently won
16 out of the 21 wards contested.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 mllion Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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