Zimbabwe's House of Assembly on Wednesday unanimously supported a motion to declare the food shortages in the country a national disaster, local media reported on Thursday.
Moving the motion, Makoni West Member of Parliament Webber Chinyadza urged the Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture to investigate the issue as a matter of urgency and recommend how the donor community could be engaged to alleviate the impact of hunger in the country, The Herald said.
Chinyadza suggested that the portfolio committee should initiate proposals to prevent the problem from recurring in future while those who debated the motion said immediate decisive action needed to be taken to avert hunger.
Some legislators suggested that people with free funds should be allowed to import their agricultural inputs and maize meal to avert hunger.
Others said that the Grain Marketing Board's monopoly should be revisited. It was also agreed that there was need for fair distribution of food to the needy regardless of their political affiliation.
While the lawmakers hailed the Government-initiated Champion Farmer programme, they confessed ignorance about the exercise, which seeks to distribute agricultural inputs.
The House urged those involved in the program to disseminate information so that legislators would explain it to the people.
Zanu-PF Chief Whip Joram Gumbo, who is also Mberengwa West Member of the House of Assembly, said his party supported the motion because food availability was a concern to every progressive Zimbabwean.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article