Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Alert - Zimbabwe - 1 / 2001
Zimbabwe: Drought and Floods Cause Food Shortages 
Geneva, 11 May, 2001


Most parts of Zimbabwe faced a dry spell at the beginning of the rain
season especially during the month of January after most of the planted
crop had germinated. The dry spell wilted most of the young crop putting
Zimbabwe's food security position in further jeopardy given the country's
rapid economic decline from the current unstable political situation. Then
in February and March, unexpected heavy rains pounded most of the country
causing floods especially in the Northern parts of the country. The
Zambezi basin areas of Mzarabani, Dande, and Guruve districts were worst
affected mainly due to the proximity to the Zambezi river and the back
flow of water from the Cahosa Bassa dam in Mozambique. It was reported
that an estimated 11,000 people were forced to flee their homes, 30,000
hectares of crops were destroyed, roads and bridges were extensively
damaged and for several weeks some of the places were only accessible by
helicopter. The Zimbabwe government appealed for US$2.4million in
emergency aid.

The two main ACT members in Zimbabwe, Christian Care (CC) and the Lutheran
Development Service (LDS) are proposing to respond to the needs of the
affected people. The Christian Care proposes to respond in five regions;
Mashonaland, Midlands, Matebeleland, Manicaland and Masvingo and their
main areas of response would be; relief food, nutrition, water and
sanitation, and shelter. The Lutheran Development Service would like to
provide; relief food through food for work, and also school feeding
programs in Masvingo, Midlands, and Matebele South. Both organizations
were in last year's appeal responding to the major floods disaster that
affected the entire Southern African region.
  
An appeal is under preparation for this proposed response, and we would
appreciate your indications in supporting it. The appeal target is likely
to be around US$3 million.

Thank you for your attention.


For further information please contact:

ACT Co-ordinator, 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, mobile phone 
++ 41 79 433 0592)


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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of 
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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   Ecumenical Centre                          Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33
   150, route de Ferney                         Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06
   P.O. Box 2100                             E-Mail: act@wcc-coe.org
   1211 Geneva 2                              Telex: 415 730 OIK CH
   Switzerland                                 http://www.act-intl.org


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