Villagers Report General Lack of Food in Zimbabwe Chronic Fuel Shortage Hampers Food Aid Delivery

October 30, 2002

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe – "Parched and barren" is the way ACT (Action by Churches Together) Press Officer Rainer Lang describes Zimbabwe's southern province of Matebele, where a lingering drought has withered the crops on their stalks and turned the lowland region into a dustbowl.

According to Lang, in Matebele on October 22, villagers are reporting a general lack of food, with a real need for sugar, bread and cooking oil. He quotes Chosen Dube, a staff person of the Lutheran World Federation's (LWF) Development Service (LWF/LDS), as saying that the chronic shortage of fuel in the country hampers food aid delivery. Even if the money is available, there is often no fuel to buy, Dube said. ACT is a global network of churches and related agencies responding to emergencies worldwide. It is based with the LWF and World Council of Churches in Geneva.

Lang reports that there is a general sense of despair in the region. Many factors are contributing to the emergency in Zimbabwe – amongst others, an economy in ruins and staggering HIV/AIDS figures. Apart from delivering food aid, the LDS, a country program of the LWF Department of World Service, also helps raise awareness about the disease. The program has had an impact according to Dube, but perhaps not as significant as would have been expected. Most people that Lang spoke to expressed concern that the crisis was deepening.

Meanwhile, Ecumenical News Inernational (ENI) reports from Harare that President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at charities and international aid agencies working in Zimbabwe for "meddling with our national affairs," banning the United Kingdom-based Save the Children from distributing food aid in a critical district. The president also singled out the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, which his government accuses of backing opposition candidates in rural district council elections in the north-western district of Binga, where the opposition recently won 16 out of the 21 wards contested.

Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 mllion Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.