AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - Food crisis: there are no basic social services

Harare (Agenzia Fides) - In Zimbabwe there is a new food emergency. The UN estimates that more than 1.5 million Zimbabweans, 16% of the population, need urgent help. The southern regions are in particular at risk, where there are more consequences of crop failure due to very little rain last season. The instability in the food supply is linked in particular to the Fast Track Land Reform Programme, controversial land reform program launched in 2000 that forced 2,900 white commercial farmers to leave their estates. The stated goal was the redistribution of land to Zimbabwean black farmers. The expropriation, however, did not produce any positive effect. The hyperinflation, rising unemployment and the effects of climate change brought the economy to collapse. In 2008, inflation reached 231 million%. In April 2009, in an attempt to stabilize the economy, the Government decided not to print Zimbabwean dollars, replacing them with the US dollar and other foreign currencies. Since June 15 this year, the Zimbabwean dollar was officially replaced by the US dollar and South African rand. This policy has brought some financial stability, but it has not solved all the problems. In fact, there is a lack of basic social services and also the industrial sectors which are not strictly linked to agriculture have been severely affected. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 15/10/2015)

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