In what could be an admission of the failure of the much-touted land reforms to alleviate food shortages, President Robert Mugabe has declared a state of disaster in all resettlement areas. In a government gazette released on Friday, Mugabe noted that there was widespread food insecurity and the risk of water shortages, not only in the resettlement areas, but in communal and urban areas as well. He also declared a state of disaster in Matabeleland South where livestock were vulnerable to the effects of drought. The declaration paves way for funds to be harnessed and channelled to the areas, and for donors to assist the affected people but it is feared that very little money would be raised because the government is broke and many donors have fled from Zimbabwe.
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