UN seeks $290 million to feed over 4 million Zimbabweans

The UN has sounded an alarm over the drought stricken rural population in Zimbabwe.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), up to 4.5 million people will need aid by next March.

The agency is looking to plug a 290 million dollar funding gap to feed an estimated 4 million residents of the southern African country who require food aid.

Zimbabwe Still Needs $290 Million to Address Food Crisis Due to Drought: UN:
Some $290 million USD in fu… https://t.co/VeCArCRme3

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The UN’s World Food Programme country director says that the maize production forecast for Zimbabwe in 2016 will fall below 60 percent.

At stake is children who have been heavily affected and it is estimated that about 6,000 school going children have dropped out of school due to the ongoing famine.

Zimbabwe, which was once the breadbasket of the southern African region has been forced to import grain form neighbouring countries and in February, President Robert Mugabe declared a state of natural disaster in most parts of the country hit by the drought.

Reuters