…so far it has received US$3 million from donor community
By ETimes
HARARE – CARE Zimbabwe says it is mobilising resources amounting to US$40 million to tackle the effects of the El-Nino-induced drought ravaging the country.
Over 2.7 million Zimbabweans are in need due to prolonged dry spells resulting in complete crop failure in many areas. Government indications show that 26% of people in rural areas will have a cereal shortage, further worsening a dire hunger crisis there.
CARE Zimbabwe Country Director Patrick Sikana told a press briefing that efforts are underway to support the needs of those affected by the drought.
“In terms of our plans as CARE Zimbabwe, we are looking at an initial response of about US$35 million that we need to pump into the intervention. We do not have that money currently, so we are reaching out to donors, partners, and well-wishers in Zimbabwe to help us raise that amount of money to deploy into what we consider to be three areas, one to actually avert hunger by providing either cash or food for people to survive; and secondly, we would like to invest in protecting the gains.
“So we have been implementing programmes that are now at risk of having gains from those programmes reversed,” he said.
In terms of a long-term sort of recovery, he said, “We are looking at between US$35 and US$40 million from the plans that we have as a country office.”.
“Its going to be an ongoing process; we have received some resources already, and I think we can confirm about US$3 million of a target. We expect that more will come as the process goes, but the funds do not come at the same time,” he said.
The drought crisis has far-reaching consequences across various sectors, such as food and nutrition security, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
“With that resource, if we are able to raise it, we should be able to impact more than 20 percent of the affected population,” Sikana added.
The situation is compounded by economic stress and livestock losses, even as the country reels from a cholera outbreak that led to over 560 fatalities. Livestock diseases and water scarcity have worsened this situation.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently declared Zimbabwe’s drought a national disaster, saying the country needs more than US$2 billion in aid to feed millions facing hunger.