The World Food Programme said on November 30 that the nutrition and food security of Zimbabwean children have deteriorated rapidly this year due to the impact of drought and the coronavirus pandemic.
“Insufficient dietary diversity and regular frequency of meals, infants and young children are vulnerable to malnutrition, especially stunting and micronutrient deficiency, increasing the risk of morbidity and death,” the World Food Programme said in a statement.
Sarah Zeid, Special Adviser on Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition of the World Food Programme, arrived in Zimbabwe last Saturday. Zeid is expected to summarize his visit and research on Wednesday and explain Zimbabwe’s current nutritional status.
According to the food and nutrition report released by Zimbabwe’s vulnerability assessment committee in February this year, two-thirds of the country’s children are stunted. The World Food Programme is currently providing food relief and cash payments to vulnerable families in urban and rural areas throughout Zimbabwe.
The number of food insecure people in Zimbabwe is expected to soar by nearly 50% to 8.6 million people, or 60% of the total population by the end of this year.
