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Italian aid agency funds Zimbabwean drought relief project

Xinhua, December 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation on Thursday provided 1 million Euros in drought relief to Zimbabwe.

The drought response project is being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in conjunction with the Zimbabwe government in four rural districts.

The project supports farmers' access to drought-tolerant seeds and subsidized stock feed.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Ringson Chitsiko said the project lays a firm foundation for effective recovery from the drought experienced last season.

"This timely intervention is welcome and will positively impact on the smallholder farmers in the four districts," he said.

Zimbabwe experienced the driest rainy season in more than three decades during the 2015/16 farming season, leaving 4.1 million people in rural areas in need of food aid before the next harvest in March 2017.

The situation was made worse by the poor harvests recorded in the previous agricultural season due to another drought.

In response to the increasing needs of drought-affected households, FAO appealed for 35.2 million U.S. dollars to assist 486,000 drought-affected smallholder farming families. The appeal is currently 22-percent funded. Endit