State of Disaster’ Declared over Zimbabwe Drought

Local Editor

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe declared on Friday a "state of disaster" in many rural areas hit by a severe drought, with 26 percent of the population facing food shortages.

The regional drought worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon affected South Africa and Zambia as well as Zimbabwe, leaving tens of thousands of cattle dead, dams depleted and crops written off.

In parallel, Public Works Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said in a statement: "Initial indications were that 1.5 million people were food insecure with all the 60 rural districts being affected."

Overall, the food insecure population has since risen to 2.44 million, summing 26 percent of the population.

Relatively, Mugabe blamed low farm yields on erratic rains due to climate change, as well as sanctions imposed by Western countries over the government's tainted human rights record.

Although many farms are underutilized, the government vowed to hold an audit to ensure agriculture land is put to use.
Besides, the catastrophe caused the death of at least 16,500 cattle countrywide, while as much as 75 percent of crops were abandoned in the worse-hit areas.

He said the government would take measures to minimize the impact of the drought on both humans and livestock.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team