By Duncan Walker BBC News Online

British charities are quietly taking part in international aid efforts in drought stricken Zimbabwe, taking responsibility for the feeding of hundreds of thousands of starving people.

They fear that many could die without their help and have been distributing food and seeds and working to secure clean water supplies.

Seven million people - out of a total population of 11 million - are in need of food aid in Zimbabwe, according to the United Nations.

The British charities are deliberately keeping a low profile, to avoid antagonising President Robert Mugabe's regime.

The situation continues to be extremely worrying, but the majority of British charities continue to scale their activities up Brendan Gormley - Disasters Emergency Committee

They are in the country despite relations between Britain and Zimbabwe reaching breaking point - a situation highlighted by the Cricket World Cup furore.

Brendan Paddy of Save the Children said: "In terms of the political situation, clearly there's a great deal of suspicion and hostility between the government of Zimbabwe and the government of Britain.

"Without getting into the rights and wrongs of that I think it's inevitable that UK agencies are dealing indirectly with the repercussions."

Vulnerable children

While a full-scale famine is still a threat rather than the reality, there has already been significant social damage.

An Oxfam spokeswoman said: "Across the country many people are eating wild leaves, fruits and insects in order to survive."

The organisation is building up its emergency aid programme to people in the centre of the country and has four months' worth of food for 30,000 people in South Africa, ready for delivery.

Mr Paddy said Save the Children was "engaged in very significant work in an emergency response".

It is feeding 136,000 people, mainly in the north of the country, and has plans to feed a further 6,000 vulnerable children.

'Local difficulties'

Other organisations with British links in the country include Care International, World Vision, Cafod, the Red Cross, Help the Aged and Action Aid.

Zimbabwe's problems

Mugabe's land reforms Too little rain April harvest looking bad Economy in severe decline Inflation at 180% Queues for basic foodstuffs Blackmarket maize price up 170% One in three people have Aids or HIV

Brendan Gormley, chief executive of UK charities' umbrella group the Disasters Emergency Committee, said organisations had not been put off by Zimbabwe's tense political situation.

He said: "Although there have been local difficulties, this has not affected the increase in aid.

"The situation continues to be extremely worrying, but the majority of British charities continue to scale their activities up."

'Political reality'

Although many of the charities have been in Zimbabwe for years, they are still treading carefully when it comes to relations with the government.

They are anxious to avoid discussing any problems the Mugabe regime has caused their aid programmes.

Save the Children had to suspend part of its work while it wrangled over details with officials, but it said that there are no problems at the moment.

"Some people get very upset that we even speak to the government of Zimbabwe, but that's the reality," Mr Paddy said.

He said the negotiations had allowed the organisation to "feed people on the basis of need and not on their politics".

'Bad feeling'

Despite their ongoing work, the charities are concerned that conditions in Zimbabwe are likely to get even worse, with the coming harvest looking "very poor" and food imports remaining low.

Save the Children said land reforms worsened the food crisis

Mr Paddy said the situation has not been helped by President Mugabe's land reforms or his pariah status in the eyes of many western nations.

"There are significant problems in getting the food in, which is not least to do with the bad feeling between Zimbabwe and most of the donor countries."

He added that it was possible that starving people were losing out as a result, although "nobody is explicitly linking it".

Referring to the confiscation of white-owned farms he did not stop short of admitting that the regime also had a hand in the country's food crisis.

"We're quite happy to acknowledge that although there's clearly a drought event, the land reform situation has also contributed," he said.