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Minister Joseph Made

Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made has said Treasury has assured Cabinet that it will release US$700 000 for the transportation of maize to deficit areas. This comes after the Grain Marketing Board failed to move grain to areas of deficit as the parastatal did not have money to pay transporters.

Dr Made said Cabinet took the decision to mobilise funds for food transportation after realising the urgency of feeding the people.
Only 1 743 tonnes of maize have been moved to deficit areas out of the 30 000 tonnes the parastatal was tasked to transport.

He said many areas across the country were affected by the food shortages, but priority should be given to those that are too depressed.
“November and December are difficult times in terms of food availability,” said Dr Made.

“Treasury is battling, but we want to assure the nation that no one will starve.” Dr Made dismissed reports that food was being given along party lines and said the MDC-T which was perpetrating the allegations should take evidence to the GMB.

“The MDC-T should report those demanding party cards when issuing out food,” he said.
“After all, Zanu-PF won resoundingly in all communal areas. It is well known that the bulk of the people in rural areas support Zanu-PF.”
Dr Made urged GMB officials to spend time on the ground supervising the distribution of food.

GMB staff was advised to work with the help of the local leadership in the distribution of the food.
Areas facing dire food shortages are Matabeleland South, Masvingo, Midlands and southern parts of Manicaland.
Parts of Mashonaland East and Central have also been severely affected.

Dr Made recently said inadequate funding was hampering the movement of maize from Zambia into the country and the distribution of maize from areas of surplus to areas of deficit.

This has resulted in 19 425 tonnes of maize being delivered from Zambia out of the 150 000 tonnes that were sourced recently on a Government-to-Government agreement.