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Drought: State of emergency declared in Zimbabwe

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President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency following a drought disaster which has hit rural areas of the country with an estimated 2.4 million people now in need of food and aid.

Mr Mugabe made the announcement days after the EU urged him to declare a state of disaster so donors can raise money quickly to provide food aid.

Read also: Zimbabwe: Chief prosecutor charged over Mugabe dairy bomb plot

Though Zimbabweans have been told not to panic about the declaration as the government has made arrangements to import maize from neighbouring Zambia, many still live in fear considering the fact that the number of those now in need of food and aid is more than a quarter of the country’s population.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing abnormally low rainfall in recent times with the agricultural sector being worst hit.

Jan Vossen, Zimbabwe director for the charity Oxfam, told the BBC that “With rains failing almost completely this year, the situation is getting desperate”.

“In certain parts of the country, we even see that people, farmers, are using the thatch of their roofs to feed their cattle,” he said.

A report by the United Nations World Food Programme reveals that about 14 million people face starvation in Southern Africa due to drought aggravated by El Nino weather phenomenon.

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