Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba said the province faces a food shortage following poor rains and Cyclone Idai floods.
Gwaradzimba said the province needed to urgently come up with strategies to feed its people until the end of next season. She said people needed to be empowered so that they do not rely on handouts. Said Gwaradzimba:
We had a bad agricultural season and it has been worsened by the cyclone which flattened the crops in the field. We expect the yields to be poor in some areas while in others they will not harvest anything. Manicaland needs a huge rescue package in terms of food. We will still need to assist people with food until the next season. We are also looking at the issue of sustainability. We don’t want our people to be dependent forever. We want to empower them by giving them fishing rods so that they can fish and not just wait for handouts.
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