Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Zimbabwe Needs Food Aid for 1.7 Million People Next Year Joe DeCapua 10 August 2010 Thereâs good news and bad news about Zimbabweâs food security situation. A new U.N. report says while itâs improved significantly, about 1.7 million people will still need assistance. The report released Tuesday is based on an assessment mission by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food program (WFP). The poorest of the poor WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon, in Nairobi, says, âIt is still a mixed picture.â Thatâs despite government efforts and a (US) $70 million international assistance program to subsidize farmers. âThe area planted under maize, which is Zimbabweâs main staple, increased by 20 percent in 2010 to the highest level in 30 years. Production rose 7 percent over production in 2009. Therefore, although they planted 20 percent more, production only went up 7 percent,â he says. While the figure is up from 2009 and a major improvement over the âdisastrousâ harvest of 2008, Smerdon says, âZimbabwe still cannot feed itself. And therefore, in the coming year, they will need to feed 1.68 million people. Thatâs more than 10 percent of the entire population with food assistance, which will have to be brought in by international organizations. And this is mainly to feed the poorest of the poor.â Humanitarian aid, yesâ¦development, no âThere has been a continued commitment to funding humanitarian operations in Zimbabwe, including food assistance. But the problem is that many donors are still not providing development aid,â he says. Smerdon adds, âWe are confident that our donors, who in the past years have provided hundreds of millions of dollars to WFP for life saving operations in Zimbabwe, will continue to support our operations there.â He says despite the fact that thereâs a unity government in Zimbabwe, donors remain reluctant to fund development programs. Many donor nations have been sharply critical of President Robert Mugabeâs policies. Mr. Mugabe, in turn, has blamed Zimbabweâs economic woes on the West and its sanctions. Buy local The WFP and FAO estimate 133,000 tons of food aid will be needed. Much of that aid may be close at hand, since Zimbabwe borders South Africa. âThereâs another record harvest coming up in South Africa now. What we would hope to do is buy (food) as close to Zimbabwe as possible because that obviously brings down transport costs, etc. And means that we can feed more people with the same amount of money,â he says. Some donors, though, prefer giving food aid rather than cash. âWe wouldnât refuse that. The United States, for instance, is a very large donor to our operations in Zimbabwe. So we would take both (food and cash), but we would prefer if possible to have cash as that enables us to buy locally and help the regional economy development,â says Smerdon. .