Weekly Round-Up - IRINSA-390: 29-Aug-08
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa
Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za
SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 390
23 - 29 August 2008
CONTENTS:
ZIMBABWE: Ban on NGOs lifted
MADAGASCAR: Growing food in the off-season
GLOBAL: Food wasted is water lost
ZIMBABWE: Listening for the trucks that will bring the food
MALAWI: Cheer and concern over ban on private sale of maize
SOUTH AFRICA: Maize may suffer from high input costs
ZIMBABWE: Doctors' strike adds to country's pain
ZIMBABWE: Hopes of a political settlement waning
ANGOLA: How free will the elections be?
ZIMBABWE: Ban on NGOs lifted
Zimbabwe has lifted the ban on some non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), but aid agencies have been cautious in their response.
A notice from the social welfare ministry on 29 August announced the
lifting of the ban, imposed ahead of the second round of voting in the
presidential ballot on 27 June for alleged political bias against the
government.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80082
MADAGASCAR: Growing food in the off-season
A US$500,000 project by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is
using Madagascar's agricultural off-season to decrease food aid
dependency and offset the effects of high food prices. The FAO launched
an emergency Technical Cooperation Project in July to provide rice seed,
bean seed and fertilisers to about 6,000 farmers and their families,
targeting households hit hard by the recent cyclones that destroyed 80
percent of the last harvest, when people consumed seed supplies as food.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80072
GLOBAL: Food wasted is water lost
To meet growing food demand, in another 40 years the world would need
enough water to fill at least three lakes the size of Victoria, Africa's
largest body of water, according to a projection in a new policy brief.
Lake Victoria's estimated volume is 2,750 km3.
In Saving Water: From Field to Fork - Curbing Losses and Wastage in the
Food Chain, a policy brief by the Stockholm International Water
Institute (SIWI), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), projected food and
cereal demand could double by 2050, and the world would need 10,000 to
13,500 km3/year of water supply to keep up with production requirements.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80078
ZIMBABWE: Listening for the trucks that will bring the food
Hungry residents of a village in Masvingo Province, in southeastern
Zimbabwe, have acquired an unusual skill: they have learnt to listen for
trucks carrying food aid. Elijah Banguza, 69, has become the village
expert and can now identify vehicles by their sound, long before they
appear on the road used by government and non-governmental organisation
(NGOs) trucks.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80056
MALAWI: Cheer and concern over ban on private sale of maize
Ordinary Malawians, cheered by the prospect of cheaper food, have
welcomed government's ban on the private trading of maize, but food
security experts and businesses have expressed concern. The government
recently announced the ban in an attempt to clamp down on hoarding and
appointed the state grain marketer, the Agriculture Development and
Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), as the sole buyer and seller of maize in
the country.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80052
SOUTH AFRICA: Maize may suffer from high input costs
High fertiliser and fuel prices in South Africa may impact the 2009/2010
maize harvest in the region's largest producer, a grain farmers' body
warned.
"The high costs will influence farmers to plant less - it is difficult
to predict by how much now," said Nico Hawkins, manager of commodity
services at Grain South Africa (Grain SA), a farmers' association that
provides strategic support to all grain producers in the country.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80026
ZIMBABWE: Doctors' strike adds to country's pain
Mehluli Moyo's frail-looking mother wheels him into Mpilo central
hospital in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. Her son is suffering from
an undiagnosed illness, has lost a huge amount of weight and is in
constant pain. Nurses at the main referral hospital in southern Zimbabwe
advise his mother, Jestina Moyo, 59, that she should take her son to a
private hospital, but she protests that she cannot afford the high
consultation fees charged by private doctors. The nurses then suggest
that she buy pain killers for him.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79994
ZIMBABWE: Hopes of a political settlement waning
The crisis in Zimbabwe is set to deepen, analysts said, as President
Robert Mugabe appeared to be "digging in" by trying to wrest control of
parliament on 25 August, and hopes of a transitional government are
waning. The convening of parliament and the appointments are a breach of
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the ZANU-PF and the two
factions of the MDC in July to pave the way for talks to resolve the
political impasse, said Lovemore Madhuku, chairperson of the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), an NGO lobbying for a new, people-driven
constitution.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79987
ANGOLA: How free will the elections be?
The prospect of Angola holding free and fair parliamentary elections in
September is diminishing, according to a recent report by Human Rights
Watch (HRW), a watchdog organisation. Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa
director, said in a statement that with "less than a month before
elections, it's clear Angolans aren't able to campaign free from
intimidation or pressure and unless things change now, Angolans won't be
able to cast their votes freely."
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79985
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