The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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FinGaz

      Not enough political will to tackle Zim's crisis: Makoni

      Staff Reporter
      7/18/02 8:01:41 PM (GMT +2)

      FINANCE Minister Simba Makoni this week acknowledged that there was
not enough political will to implement measures to lift Zimbabwe out of its
economic crisis, saying the government had so far not fully and effectively
implemented its own recovery blueprint, the Millennium Economic Recovery
Programme (MERP).

      Highlighting widening rifts within the government on how to resolve
the crisis, Makoni insisted that a fixed exchange rate, apparently supported
by President Robert Mugabe and radicals in the ruling ZANU PF party, was an
unworkable policy option.

      "I think there has not been the extent of political will necessary to
make our plans work to full effect," Makoni told the Financial Gazette in an
exclusive interview.

      "We are implementing some plans very effectively but some we have not
fully implemented and the result is a sub-optimal outcome," he said.

      Makoni, who spoke amid growing speculation that influential ZANU PF
politicians were ganging up to oust him from the finance portfolio, said
while MERP was a long-term programme the plan was not working fully yet.

      He gave as an example the failure to normalise relations with key
international donors, trading and development partners, which is one of the
pillars upon which MERP is built.

      "Our path is littered with many plans that are not being implemented.
What we need most is willingness to implement these plans. And if we had
implemented even half of the things proposed under MERP, our country would
be somewhere very different from where it is now," the minister said.

      Zimbabwe's relations with the international community are strained,
with Mugabe and his top lieutenants such as Makoni under targeted sanctions
imposed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and
Switzerland over the government's controversial land policies and bloated
human rights record.

      Makoni, a top flight business technocrat before being recalled into
the government by Mugabe to plot a survival plan for the crumbling economy,
said some of the measures implemented under MERP such as supporting the
productive sectors and ensuring that the government lived within its means
had achieved some success.

      He insisted he still had the ear of the government as its finance
minister despite the growing crusade against his policies.

      He dismissed calls by hawkish Information Minister Jonathan Moyo for
the government to ban foreign currency bureaux and foreign currency accounts
and to centralise the management of all the hard cash in the country.

      Makoni said only himself as the responsible minister had the
prerogative to announce such measures if and when adopted by the government.

      Describing his disagreements with Cabinet colleagues over the exchange
rate as a major point of departure, Makoni said he would still try to
convince the government to change its fixed exchange rate policy.

      Three weeks ago, ZANU PF's central committee threw out recommendations
by Makoni and central bank governor Leonard Tsumba to devalue the local
dollar, opening floodgates for several other ZANU PF chiefs and academics
linked to the ruling party to mount a startling attack on the minister and
his economic stewardship of Zimbabwe.
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FinGaz

      Chinamasa case: govt, judiciary in showdown

      By David Masunda Deputy Editor-in-Chief
      7/18/02 8:04:56 PM (GMT +2)

      THE Zimbabwe government is headed for its most serious showdown with
the judiciary following the conviction and sentencing to three months jail
yesterday of Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on two counts of contempt of
court, legal experts said.

      "This is the most serious confrontation between the judiciary and the
executive," constitutional law expert and University of Zimbabwe law
lecturer Lovemore Madhuku said after High Court judge Justice Fergus Blackie
slapped Chinamasa with a $50 000 fine and three months in jail on two counts
of contempt of court.

      Madhuku said although the sentence "sounded a bit harsh", he believed
Chinamasa should have been jailed on both counts but for a shorter period.

      "Chinamasa did not deserve a fine because his act was the most
flagrant and has serious consequences on our democracy," Madhuku told the
Financial Gazette.

      Justice Blackie ruled that Chinamasa was in contempt of court for "his
intemperate, pompous and ill-advised" outburst against a judgment passed in
1999 by Justice Mahomed Adam on three Americans convicted of smuggling small
arms into Zimbabwe.

      Chinamasa, then the attorney general, was not happy with the six-month
jail term imposed by the High Court on the Americans and felt the sentence
was too lenient.

      He told the state's Herald newspaper after the sentence was passed
that it induced "a sense of shock and outrage in the minds of right-thinking
people" and that "Justice Adam has in effect trivialised crimes of unlawful
possession of arms and has seriously erred in doing so".

      Justice Adam considered Chinamasa's statement contemptuous of the
court and indicted the former attorney general, who had then been appointed
the Minister of Justice, to appear in court to answer charges of
"scandalising the court".

      Chinamasa was later issued with a warrant of arrest on June 4 after
failing to appear in court but the police never arrested him and the
minister continued to defy the law until yesterday's judgment.

      Justice George Smith, on behalf of Justice Blackie, in the judgment
passed yesterday said: "It is surprising to hear such utterances from a
person of Chinamasa's background, training and position . . . where the
statements do fall within the ambit of contempt is in their intention and in
their lack of good faith."

      Welshman Ncube, another university constitutional law lecturer, said
police's reluctance to arrest Chinamasa on the June 4 warrant meant that the
minister would probably never serve the three months imposed on him by
Justice Blackie.

      "The law is very clear: anyone who commits an offence must be dealt
with in terms of the law and the executive is bound to enforce the law," he
said.

      "But all it boils down to is we do not have the rule of law in
Zimbabwe," said Ncube, a senior member of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change.

      He said if Chinamasa continued to defy the judgments made against him,
all that suffered "was the reputation of the law and the dignity of the
law".

      Many analysts were adamant that given the governing ZANU PF's wanton
disrespect of the law, Chinamasa as a senior party and government official
was unlikely to spend even a single night in prison because of Justice
Blackie's sentence.

      "We are being run in the manner of the Animal Farm where some people
are more equal than others," said newspaper columnist and political analyst
Masipula Sithole.

      "The law must apply equally whether it is a peasant in
Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe or a chef (top member of the ruling ZANU PF party) in
Borrowdale," Sithole urged.

      Madhuku said Chinamasa could still continue serving as a government
minister because, according to Zimbabwe's Constitution, he would only be
stripped of his office were he sentenced to a term in prison that was six
months or more.

      The only other way the minister could lose his job was if a two-thirds
majority in Parliament voted to oust him because of the criminal conviction
but that seemed unlikely because of ZANU PF's majority in the house.

      The most logical legal option for Chinamasa, however, was to
immediately apply for bail to the Supreme Court or to seek an immediate
pardon from President Robert Mugabe.

      "But in all fairness, Chinamasa can no longer remain as a Minister of
Justice in any proper democracy," Madhuku pointed out.
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FinGaz

      Judge sends Minister Chinamasa to prison

      By Joseph Ngwawi Business News Editor
      7/18/02 8:00:41 PM (GMT +2)

      ZIMBABWE'S Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was yesterday sentenced
to an effective three months imprisonment on one of two counts of contempt
of court and fined $50 000 on another charge for ridiculing a judgment
against him by the High Court.

      Chinamasa was however still a free man yesterday afternoon as police
insisted they had not yet received a copy of the judgment sending the
minister to jail.

      "We will deal with the issue when it comes to us but I am not aware of
any official communication as yet on the judgment," police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena told the Financial Gazette.

      It was also not clear yesterday whether Chinamasa had applied for bail
or whether he was in the country when judgment was handed down.

      Chinamasa becomes the first Zimbabwean minister to be imprisoned for
ridiculing the judiciary after more than a year of bad blood between the
executive and some judges.

      The executive has accused the judiciary of bias, particularly in cases
involving white commercial farmers who have challenged the government's land
reforms in the past two years. The judiciary has rejected the charge, saying
it is only enforcing the law.

      High Court judge Justice Fergus Blackie, in a ruling handed down on
his behalf by Justice George Smith yesterday, found Chinamasa guilty on two
charges of contempt of court but slapped a $50 000 fine on one of the counts
and a three-month imprisonment term on the other charge.

      The first charge related to utterances by Chinamasa trivialising a
1999 judgment by Justice Mahomed Adam in a case involving three American
citizens arrested for illegal arms possession while the other charge arose
from remarks attributed to the minister after another judge had slapped him
with a warrant of arrest for contempt of court three weeks ago.

      The warrant of arrest was issued after Chinamasa failed to appear in
court to answer charges of contempt of court relating to the case of the
three Americans.

      Justice Blackie suspended the sentence on the first count - relating
to the indictment of Justice Adam by Chinamasa - on condition that Chinamasa
does not commit any further act of contempt of court in the next five years.

      But he warned him that he would be liable for stiffer penalty if he
committed a similar crime during that period.

      "In respect of the second count, Chinamasa is sentenced to serve three
months imprisonment," the judge ruled.

      Constitutional lawyers said yesterday that Chinamasa should have been
locked up as soon as the judge had passed sentence and then applied for bail
while in custody.

      "The police should have executed the warrant for his arrest
immediately after the judgment, wherever he is, and until such time that the
court order is set aside or an application for bail is granted, he should
remain in prison just like what happened in the Andrew Ndlovu case,"
constitutional lawyer Welshman Ncube said.

      Ndlovu, an independence war veteran, was last week sentenced to three
years in jail for defrauding a company run by the former freedom fighters of
more than $800 000.

      He has unsuccessfully applied to the High Court for leave to appeal
against the sentence.

      Before being sentenced yesterday, Chinamasa had ridiculed his arrest
warrant issued by Justice Blackie, saying he would appeal to Chief Justice
Godfrey Chidyausiku to institute an investigation into the judicial conduct
of Justice Blackie, who is retiring from the bench at the end of this month.
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Daily News

      EU MPs demand action over worsening crisis in Zimbabwe

      7/18/02 8:54:20 AM (GMT +2)


      By Sandra Nyaira recently in France

      EUROPEAN Union (EU) Members of Parliament are demanding that joint
action be taken by the EU and the United Nations Security Council to tackle
the worsening crisis in Zimbabwe as millions face hunger and starvation
after two years of political strife and violence.

      Most EU countries have already started working on a programme to
ensure enough food is available for the starving masses in Zimbabwe with
humanitarian appeals for other Southern African countries like Angola
topping the list in France and other EU countries.

      Sebastian Minot and Catherine Boivineau, both on the African desk in
the French government's Foreign Affairs Ministry, told The Daily News during
a recent visit to France that the famine in Zimbabwe was a major concern to
Europe mainly because it was borne out of President Mugabe's chaotic land
reform programme and his policies.

      "It concerns us so much that the food crisis in Zimbabwe has not only
been as a direct result of the drought but also because of Mugabe's
policies," Minot said.

      "But we will continue to respond generously to the appeal launched by
the UN and we will contribute substantially to the drought relief programme
in the whole region that is facing serious food shortages."

      Posters on the humanitarian situation in Angola and other countries in
the region already have become a norm in Europe and French shops, bus and
train stations now bear posters and papers on these humanitarian appeals
except Zimbabwe.

      The honourary president of the 92-nation African, Caribbean and
Pacific - EU joint parliamentary Assembly, John Corrie said the new EU
presidency, Denmark, should ensure that EU Foreign Ministers act decisively
on Zimbabwe at their meeting next week in Brussels.

      The meeting, to be held on 22 and 23 July, will also discuss the
political situation in Zimbabwe with the aim of tightening the noose around
Mugabe and his close allies in Zanu PF and the government.

      "All fifteen EU Member States must impose tougher targeted sanctions
on Mugabe's regime and deliver a strong statement to the UN Security
Council," said Corrie.

      "Mugabe's coup by the ballot-box has led to a worsening tragedy as
Zimbabwe's economy gets sicker by the day and millions face hunger and
starvation. We must not sit by and watch Zimbabwe - once a beacon of hope
for Southern Africa - decay before our eyes."

      He said the first challenge facing the new-look African Union,
launched in Durban last week, was how it would restore human rights, the
rule of law and democracy in Zimbabwe.

      "The European Parliament will be watching closely how Africa's leaders
respond to this clear crisis that threatens the future plans for Africa's
democracy and prosperity," said Corrie.

      Last week the EU Parliament passed a tough resolution against Zimbabwe
after an emergency debate in Strasbourg.

      The resolution demands the proper enforcement of the EU's smart
sanctions and their extension to include all those in positions of power in
Mugabe government.

      "Mugabe's mishandling of affairs inside the country threatens not only
the people of Zimbabwe but also poses an increasing danger to the stability
of the whole of the southern African region, especially countries already
facing chronic food shortages, such as Malawi and Zambia, with the prospect
of a breakdown in the regional economy and a possible refugee crisis," said
Corrie.
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FinGaz - comment

      Zambia shows the way


      7/18/02 5:38:52 PM (GMT +2)

      ZAMBIANS have come of age, proudly showing the rest of southern Africa
that their nation is now a true democracy where political leaders with
dictatorial tendencies are not only frowned upon but are made to account for
their actions, even after leaving office.

      Thus former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba's present problems are
as much a result of the country's new found political culture as they are a
determined campaign to restore faith in failed governance by the new leader,
President Levy Mwanawasa.

      There is no denying the fact that Mwanawasa, elected in flawed
elections last December, is only acutely aware of those damning
circumstances and wants to make a clean break with the bloated record of
Chiluba, who crafted the rules of that presidential ballot.

      Despite taking over power as a puppet of Chiluba, Zambia's new leader
has clearly shown by words and deeds that he is none but himself and will
not allow anyone, crucially the former president, to get away with the
plunder of the country's resources.

      In a short six months of being in charge, Mwanawasa has rudely shaken
up the long-entrenched and corrupt establishment, sacking the intelligence
and army chiefs and dropping from his Cabinet many who had become
untouchables.

      Now he has switched his full attention to Chiluba who, as chief
executive of the Zambian state, either knew of the wrongdoings of his
officials and did nothing, or was so grossly incompetent that he should
nevertheless answer fully for their actions.

      But Chiluba himself is also being accused of siphoning Zambia's public
funds for his own personal use, a charge the former leader has so far
denied.

      Instead of publicly trying Chiluba through the state news media,
Mwanawasa has done the right thing: he has asked parliament to lift the
immunity from prosecution granted to Chiluba so the former president can
answer for his actions in a competent court of law.

      This is as things should be.

      Chiluba should indeed be given a fair trial and yet his prosecution,
if it goes ahead, must dramatise a key constitutional and democratic tenet:
no one, especially a head of state who takes the oath of office to uphold
the constitution, is above the law.

      Zimbabwe, where the rule of law is being flouted by some defiant
officials, must learn from reformist Zambia and the broader changing world
order that offenders - especially those who trample on the rights of their
citizens - no longer have a safe place to hide.

      But Zambians - both ordinary people and those in power - have also
shown that, as a nation, they no longer brook any abuse by leaders who they
elect solely to lead them by example and not through dictatorship.

      Zambia's solid refusal last year to allow an arrogant and power-hungry
Chiluba to get an unconstitutional third term as president makes this point
forcefully.

      Chiluba's own Cabinet ministers, including the then vice president,
simply told their leader that enough was enough, and so Chiluba eventually
had to leave in disgrace.

      This shows that Zambians have indeed come of age, quickly showing
their leaders the door each time the former seek to become a law unto
themselves by defying the nation's wishes and demands.

      Again Zimbabwe has much to learn from its northern neighbour in this
regard. Instead of threatening Zimbabweans with an iron fist for demanding
meaningful political and economic change, the Harare authorities must either
deliver on this or go.

      There is no other choice, certainly no place for leaders who may want
to become larger than their own nations. As it is, Zimbabwe has little of
its "independence deliverables" to show to its citizens except high social
and political tension and mass hunger.
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FinGaz

      USAID launches US$8m food aid scheme for Mat

      Staff Reporter
      7/18/02 8:06:56 PM (GMT +2)

      BULAWAYO ¯ The US Agency for International Development (USAID)
yesterday launched a US$8 million (Z$440 million at the official exchange
rate) food aid scheme to feed starving villagers in Matabeleland South's
districts of Beitbridge and Bulilimamangwe.

      The launch of the food aid scheme here coincided with revelations that
the number of villagers seeking food relief in the province is swelling
every day because of the nationwide shortages of basic commodities.

      About 500 000 people out of a population of about one million in
Matabeleland South are reported to be in urgent need of food aid. More than
six million Zimbabweans - half the population - need food aid between now
and next year, according to official figures.

      The USAID-funded food, stored in a warehouses in Bulawayo, will be
distributed by World Vision to almost 100 000 villagers in the two districts
in the next nine months.

      Rudo Kwaramba, the national director of Word Vision Zimbabwe, said
yesterday the food programme would cater for 59 359 people from 22 wards in
Bililimamangwe while 38 099 villagers from 12 wards would receive the food
aid in Beitbridge.

      The food rations comprise the staple maize-meal, beans and vegetable
oils.

      A total of 12 150 metric tonnes of maize meal, 700 metric tonnes of
beans and 540 metric tonnes of oil valued at US$6 393 300 have been bought
under the aid scheme.

      Each district will receive 1 549.58 metric tonnes of food every month.

      An USAID official said his aid agency had donated US$8 255 828 in cash
and other food items while Kwaramba, the World Vision Zimbabwe boss, said
her relief agency would inject US$130 417 into the programme.

      Villagers to benefit from the latest USAID food aid will get 13.5
kilogrammes of maize, 1.8 kgs of beans and about 0.6 kgs of vegetable oil a
month.

      "The situation is generally bad in the whole of Matabeleland South and
we are grateful to USAID for the food aid that will go a long way in
averting starvation," said Kwaramba, as officials from the US embassy in
Harare, USAID, World Vision and government departments toured the food
warehouses.

      "World Vision plans to move from free food distribution to food for
work three months from the date of the first distribution, depending on the
availability of funding."

      This is the first time that USAID has directly brought food aid to
Zimbabwe, which last season experienced a 60 percent drop in maize output
because of disruptions to farming caused by ruling ZANU PF supporters who
have occupied hundreds of farms.

      The World Food Programme, working in conjunction with local
governmental organisations, started doling out food handouts to villagers in
Zimbabwe in February this year following a frantic appeal by Zimbabwe to the
international community.

      According to the United Nations, out of the US$507 million it is
seeking to feed 10 million people in six southern African countries, the
needs of Zimbabwe comprise 45 percent of the total regional appeal.

      The Famine Early Warning Unit Systems Network and the UN Humanitarian
Situation Report for 8 July 2002 say the appeal for Zimbabwe is for 452 955
tonnes of food at a cost of US$229.4 million.
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Daily News

      MDC activist relates beer bath ordeal

      7/18/02 8:52:45 AM (GMT +2)


      By Staff Reporter

      SUSPECTED Zanu PF supporters on Saturday night ambushed and assaulted
an MDC activist at Lions Den, dragging him from the bus and drenching him in
opaque beer.

      The MDC's provincial treasurer for Mashonaland West, Godfrey Gumbo,
was travelling from Magunje to Harare by bus when he was confronted by a mob
of about 15 suspected Zanu PF militia, who manhandled him out of the bus.

      Gumbo on Monday said the attack was a well-calculated plot by Zanu PF
thugs in the province, who tipped each other off that he was travelling on
the bus.

      He said: "You could see them taking up positions even as the bus was
drawing to a halt, some waiting by the door, while others climbed onto the
bus to drag me out.

      "When I refused to come out, they forced me out, hurling abuse at me
before they poured opaque beer all over my body."

      Gumbo said the militia also robbed him of $1 500 cash he had on him
before they allowed him back on the bus, warning him not to stand against
Zanu PF's candidate in the forthcoming Hurungwe West parliamentary
by-election.

      "I suspect the motive of the attack was to intimidate me ahead of the
by-election. Zanu PF believe I am the one who is going to stand on the MDC
ticket and they are apparently running scared," Gumbo said. "And yet the MDC
has not yet endorsed its candidate for the poll."

      The police on Monday refused to comment.

      The Hurungwe West seat fell vacant after the death of the Zanu PF MP,
Marko Madiro, in May.

      Madiro's brother, Phone, is believed to be Zanu PF's candidate for the
by-election.
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Reuters alert

      17 Jul 2002
      Appeal - Zimbabwe Drought Relief, Revision 1
      Elisabeth Gouel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------



      Action by Churches Together (ACT) - Switzerland
      Regions: Africa, Zimbabwe

      Appeal

      Zimbabwe

      Drought Relief - AFZW-21 Appeal (Revision 1)
      Appeal Target: US$ 3,729,578
      Balance Requested from ACT Network: US$ 3,390,575


      Geneva, 15 July 2002

      This appeal, originally issued 8 May 2002, is being revised to include
ACT member Christian Care (CC) bringing together two ACT members responding
to the serious food needs of the thousands of affected people in Zimbabwe.
Christian Care has been working with the World Food Program (WFP) since the
government declared the hunger situation in the country a national disaster.
As a partner to the WFP CC has been distributing food to over 101,000 people
in the two regions of Harare and Mutare. However, CC possesses the capacity
to carry out extra emergency relief work in two of their regular operational
areas of Masvingo and Bulawayo. CC has carried out assessments to provide
emergency food aid to the people of Gutu district (Masvingo region) and
Umguza district (Matabeleland region). The total population targeted for
this intervention is 83,073 plus 42,862 under-five children on a wet feeding
program. The program will also provide the two communities with drought
resistant seeds for the recovery program. The appeal target is seemingly
high and this is mainly due to the high prices of maize in the region.

      In this revision, the Lutheran Development Service (LDS) proposal
contained in the original appeal has not been affected and is presented in
its original form. It must be noted here that the number of hungry people is
rapidly increasing in the Southern African region and therefore the
international community should double their efforts to assist the victims
and prevent large numbers of people dying from hunger related diseases.


      Project Completion Date:
      LDS - 31 January 2003
      Christian Care - 30 April 2003


      Please kindly send your contributions to the following ACT bank
account:
      Account Number - 240-432629.60A (USD)
      Account Name: ACT - Action by Churches Together
      UBS SA
      PO Box 2600
      1211 Geneva 2
      SWITZERLAND

      Please also inform the Finance Officer Jessie Kgoroeadira (direct tel.
+4122/791.60.38, e-mail address jkg@act-intl.org) of all
pledges/contributions and transfers, including funds sent direct to the
implementers, now that the Pledge Form is no longer attached to the Appeal.

      We would appreciate being informed of any intent to submit
applications for EU, USAID and/or other back donor funding and the
subsequent results. We thank you in advance for your kind co-operation.

      For further information please contact:
      ACT Director, Thor-Arne Prois (phone +41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone +
41 79 203 6055)
      or
      ACT Appeals Officer, John Nduna (phone +41 22 791 6040 or mobile phone
+41 79 433 0592)


      I. REQUESTING ACT MEMBER

      ? Christian Care, Zimbabwe


      II. IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER & PARTNER INFORMATION

      Christian Care is an ecumenical and humanitarian organisation formed
and owned by churches in Zimbabwe. The organisation's mission is to improve
the quality of life and the self-supporting capacities of disadvantaged
communities in Zimbabwe without discrimination (e.g. on the grounds of race,
gender, political or religious affiliation nor ethnic identity). Christian
Care's programs cover the whole country and this is done though five
regional offices in Mutare (for Manicaland), Harare (for the 3 Mashonaland
provinces), Gweru (for Midlands), Masvingo (for Masvingo province) and
Bulawayo for (Matabeleland North and South provinces). The organisation has
implemented both emergence relief and development programmes dating back to
its formation in 1967.

      Currently, Christian Care is one of the four implementing partners of
the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) emergency operation in
Zimbabwe. The organisation is feeding 101,053 people in four districts that
are in two regions of Mutare and Harare.

      Christian Care has ample capacity to implement further emergency aid
in the other three regions that are not part of the present work with the
WFP - in these regions there are area managers who will assist the
Co-ordinator with supervision and management of the programme. This proposal
seeks to assist communities in two districts in Masvingo and Bulawayo
regional offices. These two regional offices are not part of the WFP
emergency operation and will implement this program in the selected
districts. Furthermore, the targeted districts will not include those
already or planned to be covered by the WFP as it expands its operations in
Zimbabwe.

      Christian Care intends to feed a total of 83,071 people in 15,513
households and 42,862 under five-year old children in the two selected
districts of Gutu and Umguza.


      III. DESCRIPTION of the EMERGENCY SITUATION

      Zimbabwe is facing a record food deficit and countrywide more than 5.6
million people face possible starvation if nothing is done urgently. The
president of Zimbabwe has already declared this acute food shortage as a
national disaster requiring emergency assistance.

      The food deficit is argued to have evolved from some of the following
factors:
      ? The extended and severe mid-season drought from December 2001 to
March 2002, which decimated planted crops. This has so far ranked as the
longest mid-season dry spell since 1921/22.
      ? Lack of surplus food reserves at the time of the 2002 harvest, so
that the new consumption year (April 2002 to March 2003) started when the
granaries were already empty.
      ? A strong down turn in the macro-economic environment, characterised
by:
      - Hyper-inflation, currently pegged at 122% per annum.
      - High and rising unemployment, estimated at above 60%.
      - Lack of foreign currency reserves needed to import essential goods.
      - A rapidly shrinking national economy.
      ? The 'Fast Track' land redistribution process, which saw the
disruption of farming activities across both the smallholder and commercial
sector.

      Recent crop and food availability assessment by the Famine Early
Warning Systems (FWES) network (19 June 2002) show that Zimbabwe does not
have sufficient food to meet its consumption requirements until the harvest
of 2003. It has been estimated that Zimbabwe still has to import 1.4 million
MT of maize to feed the population until the next harvest expected in
March/April 2003 (FEWS NET, June 2002).

      More than 5.6 million people are considered food insecure in Zimbabwe
as a result of the food inadequacy discussed above. Of these 3.7 million are
in the communal areas, 489,000 are commercial farm workers and 850,000 live
in urban areas.

      Table 1
      The Food insecure Population and Food Requirements for the Year to
March/April 2003.
      (For full table, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)

      The Current Food Situation
      Due to this scarcity of food, prices on the market have continued to
soar with inflation in excess of 122% per annum and spiralling. For
instance, as of mid June 2002, the controlled price of maize meal was pegged
at Z$17.50 per kilogram at the Grain Marketing Board. However, due to
unavailability, the same commodity was selling on the parallel market at
Z$75.00 per kg, putting it beyond the reach of the poor majority. In rural
areas there are no substitutes for the staple maize meal and community
coping strategies have been stretched to the limit.

      Although a number of assistance programs have been initiated, largely
being dominated by the WFP and NGOs, these fall far short of the needs. For
instance, the WFP is currently feeding 558,000 people in 19 districts, yet
the estimated number of people in need of food aid are about 5.6 million (or
41% of the population in Zimbabwe) in 53 districts and in both urban and
rural areas.


      IV. GOAL & OBJECTIVES

      The goal of this project is to avert mass starvation of vulnerable
households in selected districts of Zimbabwe and to assist them to produce
food for the next agricultural season.

      More specifically this project seeks to:
      ? To make food immediately available to 83,071 people in two districts
of Gutu (Masvingo region) and Umguza (Matabeleland region) over a period of
seven months, until the next harvest of March/April 2003.
      ? Provide supplementary food to 42,862 under five-year-old children in
the two targeted districts over a period of seven months, until the next
harvest of April 2003.
      ? To provide agricultural inputs (drought tolerant seeds) to
approximately 15,513 households to enable them to produce their own food
next season

      Table 2 below provides an overview of the proposed food aid
beneficiary coverage.

      Across both districts as many as 70% of the population have no food
and will need assistance. However, Christian Care feels it may not have
capacity to reach out to all these people and therefore intends to assist up
to 31.5% of the overall population and 37,5% of the under five children in
these districts. If resources were available the best way would have been to
feed all the under five children in the target area as this age group is
most at risk when food is unavailable.


      Table 2. Population Data for the Targeted Districts.

      (For full table, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)


      Location
      Recent surveys by the Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS net) show
that Zimbabwe is in a very desperate situation in which only 5 out of 57
districts have enough food to last them till the next harvest in April 2003.
Christian Care has chosen the two districts in table 2 above, because most
other players in food aid have taken up the bulk of the red zone districts.
Christian Care will select the most needy people in these target districts
for food aid.
      As the above map (for map, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)
      shows most of the country will have no food before the end of the
year. Therefore unless there is some intervention many people may starve to
death.

      For the district of Umguza there was virtually no harvest at all.
Furthermore, for the majority of people in this district, there are no
off-farm activities that people may engage in for alternative income
sources.

      For Gutu district the average or per capital output realised in the
past season was 31 kgs. This is far short of the needs, given that a person
requires about 120kg of food every year.


      V. TARGETED BENEFICIARIES

      Beneficiary Selection
      Beneficiary selection will be done in a participatory manner involving
all the people at village level, traditional leaders, church leaders and
local extension staff from the Ministry of Health, Dept of Social Welfare,
Agricultural and extension service (AGRITEX) and Christian Care personnel.

      This beneficiary selection approach is one way of eliminating bias in
the program. However, in this selection process the government extension
personnel will not play a leading role but will be observing the process.
Local church leaders (clergy and/or lay) will lead this process under the
guidance of Christian Care personnel. An additional Monitoring Co-ordinator
will be employed to ensure proper implementation of the ACT response.


      VI. PROPOSED ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION

      Proposed Activities
      Three key activities will be implemented in this program and these
include targeted household feeding, under five year old child supplementary
feeding and agricultural input support for the same households. Because
women play critical roles in all the above activities this program shall
specifically target women as the recipients of all the materials that will
be given in the program. This will ensure that the all the support will
reach intended beneficiaries. Men have a higher risk of abusing the
materials.

      Targeted Household Feeding
      Christian Care will distribute food aid to 83 071 people in 15,513
selected households in two targeted districts. Targeting of beneficiaries
will be participatory involving the local communities churches and other
community leaders. They shall consider some of the following factors
      ? Households with low food or no food crop harvest in the last season.
      ? Households with low cash crop harvest.
      ? Households with less than a defined number of cattle.
      ? Households with no fixed or temporary salaried employment.
      ? Households with no petty trading or small business.
      ? Households headed by unemployed women, the terminally ill, widows,
orphans, the elderly and handicapped.

      In Zimbabwe women are responsible for food production, processing and
preparation in the home. When there is inadequate food in the home such a
shortage affects women more than men. Therefore targeting women in a food
aid program ensures that the food will reach the intended beneficiaries. In
this regard, this appeal will deliberately give special attention to women.

      As a result of the growing HIV/AIDS problem in Zimbabwe, many parents
have perished leaving minor children to look after their fellow siblings. In
most cases such children do not have sufficient means to fend for their
siblings. This is worse when there is no food in the home. This project will
pay particular attention to such child headed households, as they are also
at great risk of starvation in situations of food insecurity.

      The third most important group of people also at risk of starvation
are under five-year-old children. Where food is inadequate the risk of
malnutrition is high. This project will also target these children as a
vulnerable group.

      Proposed Food Ration: The most vulnerable people will be selected
across all wards in the selected districts. The food will be distributed, as
a generalised ration comprised of:
      ? Maize grain/meal meal - 10kg per person per month for up to 6
persons per household
      ? Edible beans - 2 kgs per person per month for up to 6 persons per
household.
      ? Vegetable oil - 600 ml per person per month

      The choice of this ration was based on availability and cost and also
taking into account the WFP and the SPHERE standards. Due to the high prices
of the food commodities, it has been difficult to keep the budget very low.

      It is not possible to give this food as food for work because
Christian Care does not have projects in any of the targeted districts. It
was also not possible for the organisation to target the districts where it
has on-going programs because these have either been targeted by WFP or
other NGOs. Christian Care intends to work in these targeted districts that
are not getting any support from any one at the moment

      Under 5 Year Old Child Supplementary Feeding
      This child supplementary feeding component aims to provide a balanced
diet for children who are five years of age and below. The wet feeding
rations will be issued once very month to local volunteers who will prepare
it and feed the needy children at central locations in the targeted villages
instead of a "take home" meal. The ration is 100g per day per child of a
fortified porridge meal. This food will be given as target feeding to
malnourished children in the project areas.

      Agricultural Input Support
      Small-hold farmers depend on sales of surplus produce for household
income. Part of such income is used to purchase agriculture inputs (seeds,
fertilizers and crop chemicals). When agriculture has failed as in the
present circumstances, there is no income in most households. This means
most households will not be able to purchase inputs for the next
agricultural season. Therefore, most people will remain hungry next (2003)
even if adequate rains may be received.

      Furthermore, farmers will most likely sell their livestock to raise
money for the purchase of food. This will further worsen farmers' ability to
recover from current food insecurity some livestock (cattle and donkeys)
provide the bulk of draft power in the smallholder agricultural sector in
Zimbabwe

      In view of the above this project will provide agricultural inputs to
16,686 households in the three targeted districts. Each household will be
given 15 kgs of drought tolerant seed (maize, sorghum or millets). Such an
input package will enable each household to cultivate up to one hectare of
crops. It is hoped that this seed will be purchased locally from some
farmers who may have it in storage, the Zimbabwe Seed Company (Seed Co.) or
SADC ICRISAT (International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics)
in Bulawayo Zimbabwe.

      Farmers will be encouraged to use composite and cow dung manure as
fertiliser prices are too high.

      Traditionally Zimbabweans grew millet for food but extensive marketing
and support by industry and governments have seen the extensive
proliferation of hybrid seeds even in areas in which they are not suitable.
Christian Care would like to promote these types of millet because they are
more drought tolerant and can work as some form of drought insurance.

      Millet (pearl and finger) are often grown by smallholder farmers in
communal areas. Christian Care is planning to purchase some proposed millet
seeds from this sector.

      Barter trade of maize meal and the seed will be done, farmers with
such seed will be asked to exchange this with maize meal.

      Food Aid and Dependency
      It has been argued in development discourse that food aid may create
and foster dependency on the recipients. While this may be true in other
circumstances, this is not likely in Zimbabwe as the people have
traditionally grown their own food and in many rural areas a lot of people
still show hope for better livelihoods in the future. For instance, in many
places people have already started preparing land for the next rainy season
(only expected in November) and where ground or stream water exists
communities are trying to grow vegetables for their own consumption and
sale. These are all positive signs to show that people still expect and
would like to be self sufficient in food production.

      It is hoped that this proposed food aid program will not kill local
initiatives. Christian Care will only seek to provide the basics for human
survival. Anything else not included above, will be done by the local people
using their own initiatives. Christian Care is only proposing to give food
and inputs, yet there are many other non food commodities people need. The
argument is that if people have food in their homes they will have time to
do other things they need to lead fulfilling lives.

      Use of Genetically Modified Foodstuffs
      It is has been argued that the harm that genetically modified foods
may do to human beings is not yet fully acknowledged. Introducing these
foods (as maize grain) presents the possible dangers of contaminating our
seed production industry as farmers have been seen to use such grain as
seed. Furthermore, if such grain were to be fed to livestock (a highly
likely occurrence), this would affect the country's export meat industry.
All three risks have far reaching, negative impacts on the society and the
economy. For all these reasons Christian Care does not in this program wish
to import genetically modified foods into Zimbabwe, if alternative natural
foods can be found. If unmodified food cannot be found, a possible option
would be to import already milled GM maize. The problem of this option is
however, that milled maize is difficult to store, with a very short shelf
life of less than three months. This may complicate the whole procurement
process.


      VII. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

      Seven months - ending 30 April 2003


      VIII. CO-ORDINATION

      In implementing this project Christian Care will work in close
collaboration with other development agents in the target districts for
effective co-ordination.

      So far one local indigenous church Zion Christian Church has indicated
some interest in working in Gokwe and Gut Districts. Christian Care has not
entered into formal discussions with this church yet, but is keen to work
together as this will create synergy for both. At project inception
Christian Care will, in collaboration with the local authority and churches,
identify and co-operate with other partners who may be interested in working
in the selected districts to avoid duplication and misuse of scarce
resources.

      The organisation will also be responsible for co-ordination with all
stakeholders at community level.

      Christian Care will collaborate with the Ministry of Health and
Children Welfare in the child supplementary feeding project component. Staff
of this government agency based in the villages will help supervise the
storage and preparation of food at village feeding points.

      This project will be managed at regional level by the respective
regional offices of Christian Care (i.e. Masvingo for Gutu district,
Bulawayo for Umguza and Gweru for Gokwe North).

      The Role of the Local Communities
      In this program local people shall form local food committees in the
villages. These shall work with local church leaders and field personnel of
Christian Care in identifying beneficiaries, preparation of food for the
under-five-year old children and participation in distribution of food.

      The risk of politicising food aid exists in Zimbabwe. In the past and
in the current program (e.g. with WFP) Christian Care has been able to
maintain neutrality and guarantee that only the deserving people get the
food due to its strong Church background and constituency. The church is one
institution that still has unfettered respect from both central government
and the local communities in Zimbabwe. For this reason Christian Care will
be able to ensure that all food aid given to it will reach the intended
beneficiaries.

      Procurement
      Because there is largely no food in Zimbabwe Christian Care is
planning to import most of the grain for this program from regional and
international markets once the program funding has been secured. All beans
will have to be imported. To supplement the cereals vegetable oil has been
included and in order to conform to the current distributions WFP a ration
of 20 ml of oil per person per day will be applied.

      Since the presidential declaration of the current drought as a
national disaster it will be possible to get import permits to import food
in the country. Already negotiations with the relevant government
departments on this matter are in progress. Once Christian Care gets the
permit it will contract a shipping agent to do the imports on its behalf.

      Equipment
      In order to efficiently mange this project Christian Care proposes to
purchase two light trucks and two motor cycles. All these vehicles will be
used in each of the two districts where the project will be implemented. Any
other equipment that the project may require will be provided by Christian
Care. Vehicles are required for use in monitoring this project. Those
currently available are already being used in other programs and pulling
them from there will mean stopping monitoring of those programs altogether.
While the need to keep the budget low is appreciated, the problem is that
feeding so many people will mean a full time job for each project officer
managing a district. Extensive travel will be expected and one motor vehicle
will be necessary for each district. All available Christian Care vehicles
are already committed.


      IX. ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING

      Administration
      This program will be co-ordinated by the organisation's Emergency
Co-ordination Unit to ensure that the other development work of the
organisation will not suffer unduly. This unit already exists to manage
emergence programs supported by WFP. In managing this programme, some of the
following support staff will be used: receptionists, drivers, secretarial
staff and office orderlies/messengers from the two regional offices.

      Finance
      Quarterly narrative and financial progress reports will be produced
and shared with donors.

      Reporting
      At the end of the program a final narrative and financial report will
also be produced. An external evaluator will be engaged to evaluate this
project after its termination. An external auditing firm shall also audit
all the accounts of this program. The auditing firm used by Christian Care
is Ernest & Young.

      Monitoring
      This project will be implemented through the newly established
emergency unit. The emergence co-ordinator is responsible for the overall
management of this unit. The area manager in whose district the program will
be implemented will supervise implementation. In the respective districts of
project implementation the project shall be managed by a project officer,
with the assistance of two project assistants and one community mobiliser
for each ward. These assistants shall be responsible for the day today
implementation and monitoring of the project. Christian Care's research and
planning officers based at National offices shall also carry out monthly
monitoring of this project. The finance and administration department at
national office shall also monitor the administration and finance aspects of
the project. Overall the deputy director will oversee the project.


      X. BUDGET

      (For full budget, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)


      TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE: ZWD 1,174,461,720 / USD 2,936,154


      * * * * *


      I. REQUESTING ACT MEMBER

      ? Lutheran Development Service (LDS), formerly Lutheran World
Federation Zimbabwe (LWF)


      II. IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER AND PARTNER INFORMATION

      LDS Zimbabwe has been operating in Zimbabwe since independence in
1980. Initially it was involved in the repatriation of refugees, it then
moved to the reconstruction and rehabilitation programme before it got
involved in the long-term development activities. In addition the
organisation had previously assisted thousands of refugees mainly from
Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa who sought refugee in Zimbabwe from the
early - 1980s to the mid - 1990s. The LDS program has been in transition
since the late 1980,s. The transition process is aimed at transferring
responsibilities to a local institution managed and run by local staff. To
date the LDS is fully managed by local staff and falls under the direction
of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ) through the LDS board.

      Traditionally, Zimbabwe has been hit hard by recurrent drought
emergencies and the Lutheran Development Service has assisted desperate
communities in the 1991/1992, 1995/96, the 1998/1999 droughts and the floods
of 2000. All these programs have assisted LDS to gain wide experience in
emergency work and is an active member of Action by Churches Together (ACT).

      The LDS Mission statement "Lutheran Development Service is an
expression of Christian witness which seeks to be a catalyst for sustainable
development and emergency aid in order to alleviate poverty among
marginalised communities in Zimbabwe through a participatory approach in
which the people are challenged to take direct control of their livelihoods"
In line with this Mission statement LDS is involved in both long-term
development work and emergency work in the Masvingo, Midlands and
Matabeleland South provinces.


      III. DESCRIPTION of the EMERGENCY SITUATION

      Background
      The 2000/2001 season had erratic rainfall patterns well below normal
in the southern areas and floods in the north, resulting in national food
deficits of about 600,000 tonnes. As a result of this food deficit LDS in
2001 applied for a drought relief program to ACT which it has been
implementing since September 2001. The program is due to end in April 2002.
However the 2001/2002 seasons has actually been worse than the last season.
LDS is therefore submitting a proposal for food assistance to communities in
the wards that it operates in. The rainy season, which starts in October and
normally ends in April, started off with normal rains in the first two
months followed by a long dry spell from December to March.

      Zimbabwe is an agricultural country growing a variety of crops and
also involved in livestock rearing. The main food crops that are grown in
Zimbabwe are maize, which also is the staple crop grown by almost all
households in communal, commercial and small scale farming areas. Communal
farmers largely grow it for both subsistence and to some extent commercial
purposes. The other food crops widely grown in the drier parts include
sorghum, rapoko and millet. These are drought tolerant crops and are
extensively grown in the southern, south east and west of the country. Wheat
is grown as a winter crop and mostly on commercial farms. Groundnuts are
also widely grown for food both at commercial farms and in communal areas.
The common cash crops for the country are tobacco, which is the largest
foreign currency earner and cotton. Horticulture has also been widely grown
but this is mostly on commercial farms.

      Cropping is generally done under rainfall agriculture in the communal
area and resettlement farms while irrigation on commercial farms especially
for winter crops is widely used.

      With the current drought and disruptions on commercial farms it is
estimated that more than 50 percent reduction in grain harvest is expected
this year compared to last year. A total of about 2.4 million hectares had
been planted in 2001/02 seasons, of which 60 percent was planted with maize.
However most of the maize crop wilted due to the persistent drought
experienced from January through to March in most parts of the country. A
maize harvest of 456,000 to 760,000 metric tonnes is expected this year
compared to 1.4 tons in 2000/2001. In addition all other crops were also
affected by the mid-season water deficit resulting in total crop failure in
most parts of the country. The unavailability of irrigation facilities
especially in the communal areas meant that the crops could not be saved
from the drought conditions. This has resulted in the government declaring a
national disaster because of the low maize stocks in the country. The map
below shows the extent of crop failure around the country. It is important
to note that the south and south west areas of the country are the worst
affected.

      (For map, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)

      Current Situation
      The agricultural marketing season that runs from 1 April 2002 to 30
March 2003 will begin with no official grain reserve and very low on-farm
stocks because of the low production of the previous season. Zimbabwe is
currently importing maize from South Africa but the rate of imports on a
monthly basis has not been able to meet daily national consumption
requirements of about 5,000 metric tonnes. The result of such a situation is
that there are long queues for maize meal in urban areas and maize grain in
the rural areas as people try to get some food for their families. The food
shortage of other staples like vegetable oils and beans is also being
experienced. The prices for food have become exorbitant making them out of
reach for the poor families whose incomes have already been severely
reduced. Most communities have no food reserves and have to rely on the
market for their supplies. In such a situation it has become very common for
most households to go with one meal a day - those are the lucky ones. Given
the poor harvest and stock levels experienced in the whole country in
2001/02 season, the country will need to import an additional 1.2 to 1.5
million metric tonnes to meet the pre-harvest estimated deficit expected
during the 2002/03 marketing season.

      In a normal year, crop production contributes about 40 to 75 percent
of the food or income (to purchase food) of households' requirements,
varying from one area to the other. Some households rely on petty trade,
gold panning, wild fruits, selling their labour in the commercial farming
areas (working as hired hands on commercial farms) and locally to acquire
food. Due to the deteriorating economic environment, compounded by drought
(which follows two consecutive seasons of crop failure due to floods in some
areas and drought in others) along with reduced purchasing power (inflation
rate is at 116.7 percent, a record since 1980), food insecurity is expected
to dramatically rise in most of the country, with over three-fourths of the
country being moderately to extremely food deficit as shown below. The
extreme northern districts of the country, namely Hurungwe, Makonde, Mazowe,
Guruve, Centenary and Bindura Districts may have some harvest. However for
the rest of the country people have to rely on food imports. With a communal
area population of over 2 million people, resettled farmers in the range of
over 250,000 people and about 500,000 displaced farm workers, the country
would require some food assistance. This is in addition to the 900,000
people currently requiring assistance (NGOs are helping 350,000 people and
WFP have targeted 558,000 people). The map below shows the extend of the
food insecurity across the country with the south, south west and north west
being the worst affected areas. The operational areas of LDS are in the
south of the country.

      (For map, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)

      Impact on Human Lives
      The immediate impact of this situation is the possible risk of loss of
lives. People have experienced a huge reduction in their major source of
food, maize, which has a direct effect on their consumption levels.
Resorting to one meal per day for the family has a profound nutritional
impact on families but more so on children, expecting mothers, the elderly
and disabled. Human lives are already under serious threat due to this
drought. Unconfirmed reports of deaths due to food shortages have been
reported. The lack of other viable coping mechanisms has made the situation
very critical. The likelihood of water shortages as the year progresses are
also noted and the impact on the health status of the people and animals
could be considerable.


      IV. GOALS & OBJECTIVES

      Goal: To ensure that starvation is avoided by distributing food aid to
the most vulnerable, needy communities.

      Objectives
      ? To give supplementary feeding to 52,034 school children in 121
schools so as to reduce the levels of malnutrition.
      ? Alleviate hunger among the community by making food available to
11,171 households through the food for work program.
      ? Enhance the capacity of farmers and communities to plant crops in
the next growing season by providing seed for drought tolerant crops and
also maize for the staple diet to 11,171 households.


      V. BENEFICIARY INFORMATION & TARGETED AREAS
      Location for Emergency Response and Statistics

      Summary of population and people in need.

      (For full table, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)


      Current food aid activities

      (For full table, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)


      MATABELELAND PROVINCE

      Beitbridge District
      Beitbridge town is some 320 km away from Bulawayo town. The district
has a population of 101,298 of whom 91,168 are in need of food aid. Of these
some 15,722 are being covered under the World Food Program. The LDS is
currently operational in six wards. The main program is the integrated
development program, which is involved in water development, environment
activities, HIV/AIDS activities, food security and development education.
The organisation has also been involved in food aid through food for work in
those wards that have implement the development activities and food is
distributed on site where there are development activities. The wards, which
the organisation is working in, have a population of 48,053 with 8,678
households. The 2000/2001 appeal has benefited 870 families and 12,000
school children

      Gwanda
      There are 154,958 people in Gwanda District with Gwanda town being the
provincial capital of Matabeleland South and 120 km away from Bulawayo. The
district has a total of 23 wards and a population density of 19 people per
square kilometre. In this district some 119,318 people are urgently in need
of food aid. Some of these are already on the Social Welfare Food Assistance
Programme and some are on the World Food Programme under which 50,864 will
be assisted. The LDS is operating in six wards with a total population of
34,825 people with 5,825 households. The integrated development program is
also the main program that is implemented in the area and covers aspects
such as water development, environment activities, HIV/AIDS activities, food
security and development education. The organisation has also been involved
in ACT funded food aid program through food for work in these wards that
implement the development activities. The program has benefited 600 families
and 13,000 school children. Food is distributed on site where there are
development activities

      MIDLANDS PROVINCE

      Zvishavane
      Zvishavane town is situated about 180 km from Bulawayo town while the
total population of the district is 98,738 of which 82,914 is rural. 16,009
people are in need of food but are not yet covered under the Social Welfare
or other NGO food assistance programmes. The LDS is operational in six wards
with a total population of 23,827 people and a total of 3,853 households.
The current 2000/2001 ACT appeal food aid program has benefited 300
households and 4,841 school going children in eleven schools.

      Mberengwa
      The district is adjacent to Zvishavane with a population of 193,508
people in 32 wards. The population of Mberengwa is largely rural and it is
estimated that 168,793 are already on the social welfare register and are in
need of food. A total of 95 802 people are already covered by other
programs. Currently the LDS operates in six wards with a total population of
54,266 and 9,464 households. The main activities in these wards are
development programs, which include water development, HIV/AIDS,
environment, food security and development education. Currently the
organisation is also involved in food distribution in the six wards through
the 2000/2001 ACT appeal. 715 households and 13,159 children in 25 schools
have benefited through this program. There are 108 schools with a population
of 49,140 children.

      MASVINGO

      Chivi
      The district is situated some 250 km away from Bulawayo. The
population is 212,000 of whom 84,627 are in need of food but are not
included in the Social Welfare or other NGO food assistance programmes.
There are 89 schools in Chivi with a total enrolment of 47,843 children. The
LDS is operational in three wards with a population of 24,650 and 4,166
households undertaking several activities under the integrated rural
development project. The organisation has also been involved in food
distribution through the food for work activities and child supplementary
feeding for school going children. The current program has been feeding 300
households and 7,849 school children through the 2000/2001 appeal.

      Mwenezi
      Mwenezi is adjacent to Chivi and has a population of 170,000 of whom
102,000 are already registered on the Social Welfare drought relief
registers. LDS is operational in three wards with a total population of
10,692and 1,740 households. The current programs include the IRDP and
drought relief program. The just ended program was benefiting only 250
households in the area. No school-feeding program was being done because
this was well covered by other organisations.
      Criteria used in beneficiary selection
      The most important criteria for benefiting in this project include the
following
      ? Households that did not harvest any food
      ? No or low cash crop harvest and few assets such as livestock and
would normally qualify for Social Welfare assistance.
      ? Not receiving any assistance from other sources,
      The local village committees, to avoid duplication, will co-ordinate
the programs. In the schools all enrolled pupils will benefit as long as
there is no other organisation giving similar assistance. The under fives
are weighed monthly at the clinics and those below the weight for their age
will be targeted for the supplementary feeding rations.

      Number of Targeted Beneficiaries per Area

      Masvingo
      3000 families will be involved in food for work at 18 different food
for work sites, which include
      ? 8 dam sites,
      ? 5 bricks moulding sites for school construction
      ? 4 conservation works
      ? 1 road repair.

      Under this program each family/household will receive 50 kg of maize,
which is distributed once a month. The assumption has been that a person
should receive at least 10kg per month and the average household sizes range
from 5-6 members per family. The program is not involved in cash payments
for work done.

      In addition the 3,000 families under the food for work programme will
each receive 10 kg of maize or sorghum seed for planting in the coming
season. This is a one off allocation, which will be made during the planting
season.

      11,351-school children from 20 schools in Chivi will receive
supplementary feeding during school days in the form of nutrimeal porridge.

      Midlands
      4,550 families will be involved in food for work at 57 different food
for work sites, which include
      ? 18 dam sites
      ? 36 conservation works
      ? 3 irrigation canal construction works.

      In addition the 4,550 families under the food for work programme will
each receive 10kg of maize or sorghum seed for planting in the coming
season. As indicated this will be a one off allocation in the planting
season.

      17,742 school children in 35 schools will be given supplementary
feeding during the school days in the form of nutrimeal porridge. These
comprise 11 schools in Zvishavane with a total of 6,433 school children and
11,309-school children in 24 schools in Mberengwa.

      Mat south
      3,621 families will be involved in food for work at 31 sites which
includes
      ? 13 dam sites
      ? 11 conservation works
      ? 1 dip tank repair
      ? 3 brick moulding projects for 2 schools and a clinic

      These 3,621 families under the food for work programme will each
receive 10 kg of maize or sorghum seed for planting in the coming season.

      22,941 school children in 56 schools will be given supplementary
feeding during the school days in the form of nutrimeal porridge. These will
comprise 12 250-school children in Beitbridge and 10 691-school children in
Gwanda.


      Summary of proposed implementation statistics

      District / Food for work h/h / Seed packs h/h / Schools feeding
children/no of schools
      Chivi / 1,500 / 1,500/ 11,351 (20)
      Mwenezi / 1,500 / 1,500 / -
      Zvishavane / 1,500 / 1,500 / 6,433 (11)
      Mberengwa / 3,050 / 3,050 / 11,309 (24)
      Beitbridge / 2,248 / 2,248 / 12,250 (29)
      Gwanda / 1,373 / 1,373 / 10,691(27)
      Total: / 11,171 / 11,171 / 52,034


      VI. IMPLEMENTATION DESCRIPTION PER ACTIVITY

      Food Assistance - this will be in the form of maize and/or
mealie-meal. Each family will get 1 x 50kg bag of maize per month. The
program is targeted to feed 11,171 households or families. At an average of
6 members per family the program is set to benefit 67,026 people.

      The food for work activities will be carried out at IRDP work sites.
Most of the activities are drought mitigation and preparedness activities. A
good number of the actives are dam sites which constitute one of the biggest
components of the IRDP and whose main objective is to reduce the
vulnerability of the communities in these dry areas to the recurring drought
in their areas. Work on irrigation schemes will also be undertaken to
promote the objective of ensuring food security to the communities and the
dams will ensure that water is available. These irrigation schemes will be a
source of food not only to the participants but also to the community at
large who may also benefit by buying from these schemes.

      Conservation works to protect the environment and the problems of
silting and pollution of river course systems will also be an integral part
of the program. Experience has shown that sound environmental management is
essential for sustainable development of dams. Reduction of soil erosion
contributes significantly towards prolonging the life of the dams. This is
particularly important for the fragile soils and environment of these areas.
Thus for long term sustainability activities on environmental conservation
will also be undertaken.

      Food Assistance for school children - nutrimeal porridge will be fed
to primary school children at the rate of 100 grams per pupil per day.
Nutrimeal is a highly nutritious porridge and will provide a wide range of
nutritional requirements, including, among other things, carbohydrates,
protein, fibre, vitamins and other micro mineral salts. The Ministry of
Health In Zimbabwe has recommended the ration which is used by all other NGO
s involved in the program.

      Seed packs recommended are 10 kg of maize or sorghum seed pack per
family. The program aims to build the capacity of families for growing their
own crops. The seed packs will consist of 10 kgs of sorghum, which is a
drought tolerant crop and which is already widely grown in the area.
However, because of consecutive bad seasons families have not been able to
reserve any seed for planting. Maize seed will also be provided in
recognition of the fact that farmers in these areas still grow maize for
their staple diet and over the years have tended to mix both sorghum/millet
and maize in their diet. The organisation has been, through the IRDP
program, promoting the growing of varieties of maize and sorghum/millet
which are suitable for these drought prone areas. The varieties are quick
maturing, short growing season varieties and are widely available in the
markets.

      Description of Implementation
      Food for work: The community through the project committee will
implement this activity. The food for work is carried out for the IRDP
(Integrated Rural development Program) projects. At each of these sites a
project committee is elected by the beneficiaries. The role of these
committees is to organise the communities into groups to work at the project
site. These committees are also involved in the registration of households
and keeping the attendance register. These committees under the supervision
of the LDS staff distribute the food once a month.

      Supplementary feeding program. The program is implemented by the
Nutrition Committee, which is supervised by the School Development
Association. The nutrimeal is delivered to the schools and prepared on a
daily basis. The community prepares the food after receiving training from
the supplier of the product. The porridge is prepared once a day. The LDS
staff regularly visits these schools to monitor the feeding program and
collect information for report compilation.


      VII. ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING

      Administration
      The LDS Director is in overall charge of the implementation and
monitoring of the programme. The Programme Co-ordinator is directly
responsible for the implementation and field activities directed by the Area
Co-ordinators, Officers and Community Organisers. In addition the Programme
will appoint one full time person who will assist in the co-ordination of
the drought programme. The relevant schools will implement the feeding
program with the community being involved in the preparation of the
porridge. The LDS will provide the supervision and co-ordination of the
program.

      Staff training
      The program will run a two-day workshop for the staff to appraise and
update them on the implementation of the program. The workshop will discuss
issues of record keeping, maintenance of standards and reporting to conform
to Act requirements. The workshop will aim to raise the level of awareness
on the severity of the current drought situation and the importance of
smooth implementation of the program. It will also highlight financial
control and management. After the workshop it is aimed that the staff should
be able to communicate the reporting and record keeping needs to the
community especially in view that the program has brought on board other
beneficiaries who have not been involved in the most recent programmes.

      Finance
      The Harare finance office will be responsible for the financial
management with the assistance of the finance office staff in the field. The
LWF Area Finance Co-ordinator who is based in Harare will assist with the
overall financial management according to the LWF and ACT procedures. It is
a normal procedure for the Harare finance office to carry out internal
audits at least twice a year while the main audit by the external auditors
will be done at the end of the year. The finance office will ensure that the
financial report meets ACT requirements.

      In order to ensure the ready supply of maize for distribution the
organisation will procure the maize both from within the country and also
import. The government has allowed NGOs involved in food distribution to
import maize under permits. The organisation has already initiated the
process and has already received the permit from the ministry of Labour and
social welfare. Through the National NGO Co-ordination Forum on food aid,
NGOs involved in food distribution are working out a mechanism of pooling
together the importation of food so as to reduce the overheads in the
importation. The organisation feels it is still necessary to import some of
the maize if a steady supply and smooth implementation of the program is to
be achieved.

      Monitoring
      The main implementers of this project at ground level are the Area
Officers and the Community Organisers. The Director and the Co-ordinators
will monitor the progress and make regular field visits to ensure that the
implementation of the project is as per plan. Staff also attend the Civil
Protection Committee meetings at regular intervals to update each other with
Government and other implementers on the drought programme.


      VIII. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

      The implementation period of this program will be 9 months beginning
May 2002 to the end of January 2003.


      IX. COORDINATION

      At Government level this is done through the Civil Protection Units,
which have been established at National, Provincial and District Levels. At
the ground level implementation is also co-ordinated by other NGOs, churches
and with Christian Care who is LDWS's major ACT Partner in Zimbabwe.


      X. BUDGET


      (For full budget, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)


      TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE: ZWD 238,027,210 / USD 793,424


      ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting
human need through coordinated emergency response.
      The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.


      Website: http://www.act-intl.org
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oneworld.net

Zimbabwe's Opposition Campaign for Democracy Goes International
Wed Jul 17, 9:13 AM ET
Dickson Jere,OneWorld Africa

Zimbabwe's main opposition party has enlisted the help of an international
public-affairs consultancy firm for a campaign aimed at forcing the
government of President Robert Mugabe to restore democracy by calling for
fresh presidential elections this year.



The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), lead by Morgan Tsvangirai, who is
currently facing treason charges, has employed public-relations giant
Chelgate, headquartered in London and with associated offices in Europe and
North America, to manage the "Save Zimbabwe" campaign.

The campaign--which will include letter writing, media publicity work, and
lobbying of Zimbabwe's main trading partners in Africa and around the
world--aims to send out the message that democracy in Zimbabwe is being
eroded following the reelection to office of Mugabe in March.

Chelgate's executive director Terence Fane-Saunders said the company's work
would focus on getting businesses to "withdraw support and recognition from
the regime." "Others should apply sanctions," he said, "and yet others
should improve and enhance the application of the sanctions they have in
place."

The campaign comes in advance of a meeting of European lawmakers next week
about ways to intensify pressure to bring about rapid improvement in the
governance of Zimbabwe. Members of the European Parliament resolved July 3
that they would not "recognize the legitimacy of the Mugabe regime."

The European Union ( news - web sites) (EU) and United States have already
imposed targeted sanctions on the president, members of Mugabe's cabinet and
their family members, which include restrictions on international travel.
Commonwealth heads of government suspended Zimbabwe for 12 months earlier
this year.

But even stronger measures should be taken, according to the MDC, to restore
Zimbabwe's democracy which is currently under attack from a clampdown on the
press, stifling of the country's political opposition, and attempts to carry
out land reform through the seizure of farms run by the white minority
population.

"The restrictions on free speech and the treason charges leveled at
opponents of the government create real dangers and difficulties for the MDC
in mounting this kind of global campaign," said Chelgate's Saunders.

Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party dismissed the campaign as a waste of time.
"Why should they launch an international campaign when voters are in
Zimbabwe. We can only wish them the best," said a party spokesman Tuesday.

Mugabe, who has been at the helm of Zimbabwe's government since independence
from Britain in 1980, beat Tsvangirai, his main rival, in elections March
9-10 which Western observers declared were not free and fair. Some African
leaders countered this by recognizing the Mugabe government and the rest
followed suit.

EU and Commonwealth observers reported widespread vote rigging, and violent
intimidation of opposition supporters and candidates in the run-up to the
elections.

A spokesman for the Campaign to Save Zimbabwe said: "The pressure is
building. Sooner or later the Mugabe regime will have to bow to the will of
the Zimbabwean people."

The country is currently facing a severe food crisis caused by drought in
the Southern African region. The crisis has been worsened by an economic
slowdown following a donor aid freeze. Many observers say the imposition of
tighter sanctions advocated by campaigners could exacerbate the situation.
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Conservatives meet with Mugabe opponent

Michael Ancram visited Zimbabwe farms during his visit
The Shadow Foreign Secretary, Michael Ancram, has travelled to Harare in Zimbabwe, as part of a tour of Southern Africa.

During his visit to Zimbabwe, Mr Ancram met with Morgan Tsvangarai, the Leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, and held discussions about the political, economic and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe. He also held meetings with farm workers who have suffered at the hands of Robert Mugabe's policies of land redistribution and political persecution.

Speaking to conservatives.com while in the capital city, Mr Ancram said that his visit was proving to be an eye-opener as to what was going on in Zimbabwe. “There are tens of thousands of displaced farmers without hope of future employment, and growing starvation in a land where fields lie unused,” he said.

Mr Ancram said that Zimbabwe was a society in fear of intimidation by a Government that rules by force.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary is also visiting Malawi and South Africa.


Rt Hon Michael Ancram QC MP
17/07/2002
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From The Guardian (UK), 18 July

Court halts expulsion of Guardian journalist from Zimbabwe

The Guardian's correspondent in Zimbabwe, Andrew Meldrum, struck a significant blow for press freedom yesterday when he unexpectedly won a courtroom victory postponing his expulsion from the country. The high court in Harare rejected a move by the home affairs minister, John Nkomo, to deport Meldrum. Instead the judge, Justice Anele Matika, asked the supreme court to rule on whether Mr Nkomo's action was constitutional. Meldrum's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, predicted a supreme court ruling would not be given until next year. Meldrum is, theoretically, free to remain in Zimbabwe until then. Foreign and Zimbabwean journalists supporting Meldrum celebrated outside the courthouse. Meldrum said: "We are exhausted. It has been a real rollercoaster." He planned a quiet celebration at his Harare home. He said: "This is not just for me but for thousands of other permanent residents, in that the court said our rights cannot be taken away by a stroke of the pen." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We very much welcome this. We think it is encouraging that at least some of the judiciary have the courage to take such a decision."

Ms Mtetwa had argued that it would be unconstitutional to deport Meldrum, a US citizen who has permanent residence status in Zimbabwe and has lived there for 22 years. Justice Matika agreed Meldrum had a case: "I am satisfied that the raising of the constitutional rights of the applicant is not frivolous and I, therefore, refer it to the supreme court." Meldrum was acquitted by a magistrates court on Monday after being charged under a draconian new press law for reporting a story that turned out to be false. In spite of the acquittal, Mr Nkomo immediately served a deportation order on Meldrum. In court yesterday, lawyers for Mr Nkomo's department struggled to provide grounds for the deportation. They eventually claimed Meldrum represented a threat to public order but could not disclose the reason because it would breach national security. Mr Nkomo also insisted: "The applicant is deemed to be an undesirable inhabitant because, among other reasons, he was publishing stories outside the country which were intended to tarnish the image of the country."

Meldrum went to court expecting to be on a flight out of Zimbabwe last night. But he said: "I made a point of not packing my bags. If they threw me out, I was not going to be a willing participant." Police and immigration officers packed the court. Meldrum remains at risk. Supporters of President Robert Mugabe have raided the homes of journalists declared persona non grata by the government. Ms Mtetwa warned: "His residency remains intact. That does not mean they will not come in the night and ignore the court order." Meldrum said: "I hope the government takes the court decision in a positive light and leaves it at that, and does not do something stubborn and wilful." Meldrum's chances of a favourable ruling from the eight-member supreme court appear to be slim. Mr Mugabe has packed the court with sympathetic judges and only one is left with a reputation for independence. Meldrum said: "It is a reprieve, not a complete victory. But it gives me breathing space." The shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, slipped into Zimbabwe yesterday to hold talks with the country's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Ancram said: "It has proved a horrific eye-opener to see what is happening on the ground in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a society in fear of intimidation by a government which no longer governs by rule of law but increasingly by force."
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BBC
 
Thursday, 18 July, 2002, 13:52 GMT 14:52 UK
Zimbabwe's judges remain defiant
Justice Gubbay and President Mugabe
The courts have frequently ruled against Mugabe
test hello test
By Joseph Winter
BBC News Online
line
If critics and supporters of President Robert Mugabe can agree on one thing, it is that the judiciary has become one of the strongest checks on, or bastions of opposition to, his government.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has 57 seats in parliament but they have no power.

Anti-government judgements
1990s: Econet allowed to set up mobile phone network
2000: Land reform programme declared illegal
September 2000: ZBC monopoly declared illegal
January 2001: Presidential ban on election challenges declared illegal
15 July 2002: Journalist acquitted in media test case
17 July: Justice minister sentenced to three months in jail
Foreign governments have imposed sanctions following Mr Mugabe's controversial re-election in March but little has changed in Zimbabwe.

But the judges continue to rule against the government - most recently sentencing a cabinet minister to three months in jail for contempt of court and clearing United States journalist, Andrew Meldrum, of "publishing falsehoods" in a high-profile test of a tough new media law.

A dozen other journalists have been charged under the Freedom of Information and Right to Privacy Act but the legal precedent now favours the journalists.

The authorities tried to get round the ruling by immediately issuing a deportation order against Mr Meldrum but another court has ruled that he can remain in the country, while he appeals.

'Politicised'

The government does not take kindly to such independence of thought and action and has forced seven judges to resign.

Zimbabwe's most senior lawyer was also arrested after being accused of trying to organise violent protests against the government.

Sternford Moyo, President of the Law Society of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's most senior lawyer was arrested

Sternford Moyo, President of the Law Society, vehemently denies working with the British High Commission and the MDC to unseat Mr Mugabe.

One Harare-based lawyer told BBC News Online that relations between the government and the judiciary are getting worse.

"Politicians want to politicise everything - especially when they lose cases," she said.

The government became really angry when judges ordered the police to remove its supporters who had occupied hundreds of white-owned farms during the campaign for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.

Some of those judges were white and the government condemned them as racist.

Government sympathisers

One of the leading war veterans, Joseph Chinotimba, who had spearheaded the violent land occupations, visited the then Chief Justice, Anthony Gubbay, and threatened him.

He opted for safety and agreed to resign.

War veteran, Joseph Chinotimba
War veteran Chinotimba met Chief Justice Gubbay
Those named to replace the departing judges have been seen as government sympathisers.

The new Chief Justice, Godfrey Chidyausiku, served as a deputy minister in one of Mr Mugabe's previous governments.

The new judges have already ruled that the government's land redistribution programme is legal - in stark contrast to a ruling by the previous Supreme Court.

In the controversial ruling, four new judges backed the government, while the one survivor from the previous court dissented.

But other judges continue to defy government insults and intimidation.

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Sunday Times SA

Mugabe regime defies High Court again

HARARE - Zimbabwe was plunged into new crisis as President Robert Mugabe's
regime said it would defy a jail sentence passed by a high court judge for
contempt of court on Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

The state-controlled daily Herald newspaper quoted justice ministry
permanent secretary David Mangota as saying that white judge Fergus
Blackie's hearing had been "irregurlarly done" and therefore the sentence
"has no force or effect".

At the same time, propaganda minister Jonathan Moyo accused Blackie, who
yesterday passed the three-month sentence and a ZIM $50 000 (about $85) fine
on Chinamasa, of being "a racist Rhodesian" who had presided over "a
kangaroo court".

Observers said the government's defiance was dragging the country into open
conflict between the regime and the judiciary, much of it regarded now as
seriously compromised by the appointment of pro- Mugabe judges to the bench.

Comment was not immediately available from either the Zimbabwe Law Society
or the Zimbabwe Bar Association, but legal experts who asked not to be named
said the attacks on the judge "constitute direct interference in the
judiciary.

Said one: "Only the supreme court can strike down a judge's ruling. Now we
have a civil servant telling a judge his judgment will not be obeyed."

In his judgement handed down Wednesday, Blackie found the controversial
Chinamasa guilty on one count of contempt of court for publicly denouncing
another judge's ruling, and on another count for failing to appear for his
trial last month.

"It is difficult to imagine a more deliberate and contemptuous response to
the authority of the court than Chinamasa's," the judge said.

He also disclosed that police had ignored a warrant for Chinamasa's arrest
that was issued after he had not appeared for his hearing. "It is clear the
police will not carry out the warrant," he said.

Chinamasa then denounced Blackie's warrant as "gross abuse" and said he
would demand an investigation into Blackie's alleged "misconduct".

His remarks provoked a storm of protest from the country's legal fraternity.
The country's judiciary, once internationally respected for its independence
and its uprightness, has been under attack since late 2000 when a mob of
ruling party militias stormed the supreme court and threatened to kill the
judges because they had declared Mugabe's campaign of seizures of
white-owned land unlawful.

Since then, distinguished former chief justice Anthony Gubbay has been
forced to resign under threat of violence and was replaced with judge
Godfrey Chidyausiku, regarded as a Mugabe crony.

The supreme court has been packed with other Mugabe supporters, ensuring
favourable decisions for the regime.

Six high court judges have resigned after making decisions that angered the
government, only to be be replaced by more Mugabe supporters.

The government now almost routinely ignores court orders. George Charamba,
the permanent secretary in Moyo's department, this week ignored, for the
second time, a summons to answer charges also of contempt of court.

Sapa-DPA
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U N I T E D  N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

ZIMBABWE: US $285 needed to survive crisis

JOHANNESBURG, 18 July (IRIN) - The United Nations needs US $285 million to help Zimbabweans survive a humanitarian crisis and the worst food shortage in 50 years.

The UN consolidated appeal, which was released on Thursday, said short term goals identified by the UN Country Team (UNCT) include preventing vulnerable populations from becoming destitute and laying the foundations for recovery in food security, education, health services and the economy at large.

The programmes covered in the appeal would include tackling HIV/AIDS, helping with agricultural recovery and irrigation, supporting stressed health care facilities and depleted drug stocks and even helping to protect children from being abused as the crisis takes its toll.

The report accompanying the appeal said six million Zimbabweans - half the population - are at risk due to the food shortages. Around 2.2 million people - 30 percent of the adult population - are living with the HI virus.

At least 600,000 children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Some 150,000 are in desperate need of protection services and 600,000 need targeted nutrition initiatives.

Zimbabwe's current crisis was not a "traditional complex emergency", the report said. Policy choices and economic conditions, natural phenomena like drought and Cyclone Eline and the HIV/AIDS pandemic compounded each other, "with the worsening food crisis acting as a multiplier effect on previously existing problems".

"The drought of 2002 exacerbated an already critical situation, and can therefore not be wholly responsible for the current levels of crisis," it said.

Agrarian reform, under the government's fast-track land reform programme, led to a 70 percent drop in maize production. This production could have offset the decimation of smallholder maize production caused by the drought, the report noted.

Government policies had made assistance delivery more difficult. The report cited the government's refusal to accept genetically modified (GM) food aid amid concerns that this would affect its beef exports.

The crisis was also exacerbated by the Grain Marketing Board's (GMB) monopoly on cereal importation, and the government's price and foreign exchange controls.

"Without re-establishing a conducive policy environment, the humanitarian assistance and recovery is clearly going to have limited effectiveness," the appeal document said.

It warned that even after projected imports by the World Food Programme (WFP), NGOs and the GMB between July 2002 and June 2003, there would still be a glaring shortfall of maize.

Without the participation of private sector companies, the government, faced with foreign currency shortages, could not cover the deficit and the price of maize would rise beyond the reach of the poor. This could lead to "mass starvation and further population displacement and migration across the borders of Zimbabwe", warned the report.

"In 2002 an exhaustion of the traditional coping mechanisms and an increasing reliance on dangerous or damaging survival strategies were seen," it noted.

"These strategies, including poaching, prostitution and theft, if allowed to form the basis for survival for vulnerable populations, will have severe medium-term effects on the population, the natural resource base, and the environment."

The exchange of children for food had also been recorded.

While it had been recognised that there was an HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe, the government had only recently acknowledged the extent of the problem.

"Food shortages also lead to an increase in prostitution and other high risk behaviour of women, and girls in particular," the report said.

"Food shortages also make it impossible for families to provide adequate food for people living with HIV. The food shortage has a particularly negative impact on children who are often asked to drop out of school and engage in child labour in order to contribute to the family income or to care for an infected family member. Cutbacks in education and separation from a child friendly environment make them more susceptible to HIV infection."

Projects covered under the appeal include the rehabilitation of water infrastructure, helping vulnerable populations increase agricultural production, helping improve fishing activities and a mass vaccination programme to protect livestock.

The health sector plans include disease surveillance, strengthening health service delivery and the procurement of vital drugs and medical supplies. Peripheral health facilities were found to have less than 30 percent of their average drug stocks. Reproductive health was found to need urgent attention.

The programme to fight HIV/AIDS would include support for procuring condoms and test kits, drugs for the prevention of mother to child transmission, home based care projects and scaling up HIV/AIDS awareness and education.

Children, who are particularly vulnerable during the crisis would benefit from a number of projects, many to protect them from abuse.

[ENDS]

IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
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Farming Implements Found At Company


The Herald (govt mouthpiece) (Harare)

July 18, 2002
Posted to the web July 18, 2002

FARMING implements worth over $20 million and suspected to have been destined for Mozambique were yesterday discovered stacked at an engineering firm in Mutare following a blitz by the Affirmative Action Group.

Tractors, trailers, irrigation pipes and pumps, power generators, several litres of agricultural chemicals, over 600 kilograms of fertiliser and sprinkler valves were said to have been waiting for transport outside the country.

The equipment was discovered following a tip-off to the AAG by a member of the public.

Assistant Inspector Nkata confirmed the incident and said that police had launched an investigation into the matter.

"We now have increased our patrols to try and intercept people who want to move some goods into Mozambique from Zimbabwe.

"So far we have managed to stop the illegal movement of goods out of the country," she said

The farming implements had been removed from Westcote Farm in Darwendale last November to Hughes Engineering where the farmer had them for safe-keeping.

Mr Isau Mupfumi, the AAG Manicaland president, said that they alerted the police after a tip-off from members of the public who alerted AAG of farming implements at Hughes Engineering.

The farm was designated for resettlement and the owner is contesting the Government acquisition in the High Court.

AAG national spokesman Mr Keith Guzah said the blitz will continue as long as farmers remain adamant that land should not be designated.

In a related incident, the police were able to intercept a truck that had salt and margarine at Juru growth point.

The police were following a tip-off from the AAG.

The police at Juru growth point could not divulge much information on the issue as they are still investigating the matter.

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