WFP says more than 1M Zimbabweans will need food aid through March 2012

More than one million Zimbabweans will need food aid between now and March 2012 because of poor harvests and food prices out of reach for vulnerable families, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said Monday, the Associated Press reports (11/21). The agency "said it was facing a $42 million funding shortfall for food aid it planned to provide to vulnerable households in Zimbabwe's hardest-hit areas until the start of the harvest season in March," Reuters writes (11/21). According to a recent survey, "12 percent of the rural population will not have the means to feed themselves adequately during the lean season," a WFP press release notes, adding, "Most at risk are low-income families hit by failed harvests, and households with orphans and vulnerable children" (11/21).