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217,000
people will receive no harvest
By Phiwokwakhe Ngidi MBABANE - Some areas in this country will receive absolutely no harvest this season and at least 217 000 victims of this state of affairs have been identified in various areas around the country. This represents about 20 percent of the total population. This grim picture was painted by the World Food Programme and the National Disaster Task Force, respectively. The WFP actually said it is not only Swaziland that will suffer heavy cereal loses but others would be the whole of Lesotho, southern Mozambique and some parts of Zimbabwe. According to the chairman of the local national disaster task force, Ben Nsibandze, popularly known as Mshamndane amongst food aid recipients, areas in the Southern and Eastern Lowveld of Swaziland will receive very little harvest, if anything. He said just between February and March 2004 a total of 217 000 hunger victims will need food aid. Serious "The entire SADC region is in the grip of a very serious drought, one that these countries have not experienced FOR A LONG TIME," Nsibandze said. "As a result of this serious drought situation, some of the SADC countries have declared ‘drought disasters’ in their entire countries, while some have declared certain provinces within their countries." "It is true that some areas in the Southern and Eastern Lowveld of Swaziland will also face very little or even zero harvests." "The numbers that should receive food aid during the period February/March is 217 000 hunger victims," Nsibandze said. Requires Nsibandze said the country requires between 140 000 to 150 000 metric tons of maize per year for consumption. He said since there willl be little harvest the country will need the deficit if everyone were to have a meal each day. He said they are presently awaiting to hear from the National Early Warning Unit as to the exact figures of the deficit. When the National Early Warning Unit was called, an officer there said they were still going to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the shortfall in the first two weeks of February 2004. Source: Times of Swaziland, 2 February 2004 |
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