Zimbabwe will, from next week, adopt a coupon system similar to food stamps amid growing concern that vulnerable groups are unable to access subsidised maize meal.<\/p>\n
Addressing journalists after a cabinet meeting, information and broadcasting services minister Monica Mutsvangwa said there was a team compiling a database to ensure the smooth operation of the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cA targeted coupon scheme for the vulnerable is in the offing, with the compilation of a database at an advanced stage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that when the database was finalised after a vetting process, government would then move maize meal to targeted communities, where coupon holders could buy it cheaper. This, she said, was a move to guard the crisis from being hijacked by corrupt people in the maize industry who would make the situation worse for the poor.<\/p>\n
A failing economy has forced the government to increase the price of subsidised maize meal and, in the process, dumping the burden on the less-privileged in communities.<\/p>\n
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said, \u201cGovernment has reviewed upwards the subsidised price from ZW$50 to ZW$70 per 10kg of roller meal against the prevailing market price of the product.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Bulawayo, the deputy minister of industry and trade, who is also a local legislator for Tshabalala-Sizinda constituency, Raj Modi, last week distributed free maize meal to more than 1,000 households in his constituency. He vowed to do more.<\/p>\n
The World Food Programme in December appealed for US$200m (about R2.965bn) to help feed half the population of Zimbabwe (8-million people) as the country faces one of its worst humanitarian disasters this century. For the first time, urban communities are also receiving food aid, with an estimated 2.2-million city dwellers and at least 5.5-million people in rural areas facing starvation.<\/p>\n
According to a report in November 2019 by Hilal Elver, the UN\u2019s special rapporteur on the right to food, \u201cZimbabwe counts among the four highest food-insecure states\u201d.<\/p>\n
Fearing food riots, last week finance minister Mthuli Ncube lifted the ban on genetically modified (GM) maize. A big chunk of the maize imports from SA will supplement the government subsidy programme. Zimbabwe consumes about 80,000 metric tons of maize a month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zimbabwe will, from next week, adopt a coupon system similar to food stamps amid growing concern that vulnerable groups are unable to access subsidised maize meal. Addressing journalists after a cabinet meeting, information and broadcasting services minister Monica Mutsvangwa said there was a team compiling a database to ensure the smooth operation of the system. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":15327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[1322,150],"class_list":{"0":"post-19476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-policy","9":"tag-food-and-agriculture","10":"tag-ncube"},"yoast_head":"\n