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afrol News, 8 November - While the food crisis is having its heavy humanitarian toll in Zimbabwe, efforts to limit the crisis are thwarted by the crumbling Zimbabwean economy. The disputed land reform and declining foreign investments are causing another significant contraction of the economy. Now, also the UN warns. - A troubled economy threatens to cause the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe to deepen, the United Nations Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office for southern Africa warned today. The UN agency adds its voice to the growing critical statements over the links between the land reform and the country's humanitarian crisis. By the end of the year, Zimbabwe's real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract another 12 percent, while inflation is likely to spiral to 200 by December. In this environment, the UN office said, speculation and consumption thrive, and few investments are made in the productive sectors. "The lack of investment, coupled with a savings rate that has fallen to 27 percent, are hampering recovery and pushing the country further into poverty," it said. The UN office also warned that Zimbabwe is experiencing a severe foreign currency shortage, making it difficult for the government to import basic foods such as wheat and maize meal, while raising the cost of humanitarian relief efforts and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer. Meanwhile, tobacco production, which accounted for about a third of Zimbabwe's foreign currency earnings last year, was expected to reach only about 25 percent of the normal level due to the occupation and redistribution of commercial farms. Meanwhile, crop production that already was reduced by a drought in June will drop by another 10 percent to 40 percent due to natural disasters. The UN office said the farming sector was also subject to ongoing land resettlements and recurring fuel shortages. "Farmers are struggling with high input prices, a shrinking domestic market and controlled producer prices that are too low to make production profitable," it stated. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Zimbabwe was working with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to assist the government of Zimbabwe in addressing these problems, according to the UN office. While most Western aid agencies have left or are leaving Zimbabwe, substantial funds from these countries still are channelled into the relief work of UN agencies, addressing the food crisis. In July, the UN launched a US$ 611 million appeal for 14.4 million people in six southern African countries placed at risk by a combination of prolonged drought, erratic rainfall, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The appeal, which in addition to Zimbabwe also covers Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia, however so far has received only 44 percent of the funding needed.
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