CRS increases aid to Zimbabwe to meet urban residents' needs

Published: 2003-10-22

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Catholic Relief Services is increasing aid to Zimbabwe as a response to a national food crisis exacerbated by the AIDS pandemic, the agency said. CRS, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency, is facilitating a U.S. government-funded program that provides a subsidized sorghum meal to Zimbabwe's urban poor at a quarter of normal prices. While food aid is widely distributed in Zimbabwe's rural areas, less assistance has been provided in worsening urban areas, the agency said. "Poverty, weather, governance and HIV/AIDS have all combined to create the regional crisis," said Paul Macek, CRS Southern Africa Regional Emergency Representative. "But while Zambia and Malawi, fragile as they remain, have seen the worst pass, Zimbabwe remains a country in serious crisis." The $3.6 million program was recently launched in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, and initially will run for six months.

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