Zimbabwe closes UN food offices

Many Zimbabweans are living on the edge as the food crisis worsens

United Nations officials in Zimbabwe say they have been forced to close several offices monitoring the distribution of food aid.

They say the government in Harare asked the United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) to shut three newly-established field offices in rural areas.

But UN workers say the delivery of relief supplies is unaffected and monitoring has continued.

There has been no comment from the Zimbabwean Government - it has previously denied allegations of interfering in the distribution of emergency relief.

Zimbabwe's Government had earlier issued a directive for international food aid to be handed over to local authorities for distribution.

Until now, the major foreign food donors have been distributing foreign food aid themselves - there have been concerns that President Robert Mugabe's government has politicised the food assistance that it controls.

Disastrous

There have been allegations by many Zimbabweans that the food assistance controlled by the state has been manipulated so that supporters of President Mugabe are given easier access to the food than his political opponents.

Zimbabwe's Government has strongly denied the allegations.

The food shortage in the country is getting worse.

Some 3.8 million Zimbabweans need food aid to survive; by the end of the year, it is predicted that that number will rise to 5.5 million.

The UN predicts that more than five million Zimbabweans, about a third of the population, will need food aid this year because of a combination of bad weather, economic mismanagement and the government's land redistribution policy.