HARARE – Zimbabwe requires an additional $73 million in humanitarian aid this year due to increased food needs for the most vulnerable groups in the country even after the government said it expects a better harvest, according to United Nations agencies.

The U.N. humanitarian country coordinator Alain Noudehou said yesterday aid agencies had reviewed the country’s humanitarian needs and were now appealing for $488 millionin 2011, up from the initial $415 million.

Zimbabwe is a former major regional agricultural producer but the troubled southern African state has struggled to feed itself since President Robert Mugabe embarked on his controversial drive to seize white-owned commercial farms in 2000, which knocked farming production.

We are well aware that globally, we are competing for resources with dire humanitarian situations like the drought in the horn of Africa and the crisis in the Middle East (and) North Africa,” Noudehou said yesterday.

“We therefore appeal for the continuous support of the donor community to address these needs that are clearly articulated in the Zimbabwe CAP (Consolidated Appeal Process) 2011.”

Noudehou said the country had not achieved its desired food security levels after a mid-season drought destroyed crops in southern and south-western Zimbabwe.

Nearly 1.7 million Zimbabweans need food assistance this year, according to the U.N.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last week in a mid-term budget review that Zimbabwe's production of maize grain would rise this year to 1.45 million tonnes from 1.32 million tonnes last year. The country requires about two million tonnes of maize per year.

Zimbabwe’s economy is recovering after a decade of collapse mainly blamed on Mugabe’s policies. The octogenarian leader blames the collapse of Zimbabwe’s once brilliant economy on sanctions by the West he says were meant to punish him for seizing white farms.

The agriculture sector has also rebounded with small-scale farmers having increased production thanks to more donor support in procuring seed and fertilizers and the abolishment of Grain Marketing Board’s monopoly on grain trading, which has improved prices.

Noudehou said the 2011 CAP had so far received $142 million, about 32 percent of the total needs.

By Staff reporter and agencies