UN food agency concludes seasonal lean food aid distribution in Zimbabwe

Harare [Zimbabwe], March 22: The World Food Program (WFP) has concluded its lean season food aid distribution in Zimbabwe after last year's cereal harvest amid rising food insecurity due to the El-Nino-induced drought.
The Zimbabwean government, along with the WFP, has been providing lean season food assistance to the targeted people across the country.
Speaking at one of the food aid distribution locations in Matabeleland South Province on Thursday, WFP Representative and Country Director Francesca Erdelman said Zimbabwe is facing one of its worst droughts in decades, which will likely leave many people food insecure and requiring emergency food aid in the 2024/25 season.
In the 2023/24 agricultural season, at least 2.7 million people, or a quarter of the rural population, were assessed as food insecure and requiring food assistance during the peak of the lean season between January and March 2024.
"This year's harvest is particularly somber because the agricultural season is even worse than it has been in quite a number of years ... We see across the country that the crop production is very much affected by the current El Nino drought," Erdelmann said.
Source: Xinhua