FAO: Drought to make Zimbabwe's Food Situation Worse

United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the prolonged dry spells in several provinces in Zimbabwe will likely cause serious damage to this year’s maize harvest, further aggravating the already critical food situation in the country. While low-lying areas experienced flooding late last year, particular regions have been facing extreme dry weather since February. Shortage in key agricultural inputs, such as seeds and tillage power, makes matters worse. Fertilizer and fuel above all have been in short supply.

FAO said that Zimbabwe, with shrinking purchasing power and high inflation rate (the world’s highest with 100 thousand percent in December 2007) cannot afford another year of low cereal production. The country has already imported 81 percent of the estimated 1.03 million tons of cereal import requirement for 2007/08.

Read the complete article at http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000825/index.html