ACT launches Zimbabwe food aid and recovery appeal

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International has issued a $3.6 million appeal to respond, over the next twelve months, to the growing humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

An inflation rate exceeding 7,000 percent has had a devastating impact on the general population, but especially so on vulnerable people already struggling to make ends meet.

The ACT members implementing the alliance's response, Christian Care (CCARE) and Lutheran Development Service (LDS), report that factors that have hastened the country's economic decline include the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the impact that restructuring the agricultural sector has had on the overall food security, and a massive unemployment rate, with some 80 per cent of the population considered to be living under the poverty line.

In addition, 2007 saw one of the worst harvests in recent times, with the year officially designated as "Drought Year" by the government.

The two ACT members aim at making food immediately available to families that have been identified as being particularly vulnerable in the Chivi, Mwenezi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Gwanda and Beitbridge districts.

In total, close to 51,000 people will receive food aid, if the appeal is fully funded.

The households being assisted include those headed up by women, children and elderly persons, as well as widows and widowers, people suffering from terminal illnesses or are physically challenged.

Also considered vulnerable, are households living with orphans and other vulnerable children, and families with very little agricultural means to support and sustain themselves.

ACT member CCARE celebrated its 40th year of service recently, while LDS has been active in the country for more than two decades.