US embassy cable - 03HARARE541

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000541 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA FOR KHANDAGLE AND MARX, 
DCHA/FFP FOR LANDIS, PETERSEN AND WHELAN, 
AFR/SA FOR FORT AND COPSON 
STATE FOR AF/S DELISI AND RAYNOR 
NAIROBI FOR DCHA/OFDA/ARO FOR RILEY 
NSC FOR DWORKIN 
PRETORIA FOR USAID/DCHA/FFP FOR DISKIN, 
DCHA/OFDA FOR BRYAN AND FAS FOR HELM 
ROME PLEASE PASS TO FODAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREL, US, ZI 
SUBJECT: WFP CONTINUES TO EXPAND DISTRIBUTIONS IN 
FEBRUARY 2003 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  During February 2003, the World Food Programme 
(WFP) distributed 54,567 metric tons (MT) of food 
commodities in Zimbabwe, increasing by over 10,000 
MT distribution totals from January 2003.  The 
distribution reached 4.285 million beneficiaries 
in 49 targeted districts.  In March 2003, WFP 
plans to target 4.7 million beneficiaries with 
59,262 MT of food commodities.  Including other 
pipeline sources, notably USAID's C-SAFE 
(Consortium for the Southern Africa Food Security 
Emergency) pipeline covering 7 additional 
districts, a total of 5.529 million beneficiaries 
in rural and communal areas are expected to be 
reached in March.  WFP reports that it will have 
sufficient food commodities to meet cereal 
distribution requirements through the end of April 
2003.  Adequate supplies of pulses and oil still 
need to be confirmed for this period.  Due to 
adequate existing milling arrangements, it is 
increasingly unlikely that WFP will need to mill 
US-donated maize in Harare or Gweru at this stage. 
The United States remains the largest single donor 
to the WFP emergency operation in Zimbabwe.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
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WFP EXPANDS DISTRIBUTION QUANTITY IN FEBRUARY 
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2.  During February 2003, WFP and its implementing 
partners (IPs) distributed a total of 54,567 MT of 
food commodities to 4.285 million beneficiaries in 
49 of 49 targeted districts in Zimbabwe.  The 
February distribution was WFP's largest to date, 
over 10,000 MT more than January's 42,428 MT.  The 
current distribution was also able to reach over 1 
million more beneficiaries than the January 
distribution.  The total tonnage distributed 
during February consisted of 42,961 MT of maize, 
4,347 MT of pulses, 2,536 MT of vegetable oil, and 
4,723 MT of corn-soy blend (CSB). 
 
3.  NOTE:  According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability 
Assessment Committee's December Report, there are 
5.9 million rural Zimbabweans in need of food 
assistance.  WFP has assumed responsibility for 
covering food aid needs in 49 of Zimbabwe's 57 
rural districts.  The total population in need in 
these 49 districts is estimated to be 5.1 million 
people.  Of the remaining eight districts, seven 
are covered by the USAID-funded C-SAFE, and one is 
covered by Save the Children-United Kingdom.  The 
total population in need in these eight 
"bilateral" districts is roughly 0.8 million.  END 
NOTE. 
 
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BENEFICIARY TARGETS AND PROJECTIONS 
----------------------------------- 
 
4.  In January, WFP projected that its February 
distributions would be 53,500 MT and 4.25 million 
beneficiaries.  WFP surpassed the projection in 
terms of tonnage delivered and essentially met the 
targeted number of beneficiaries for the month of 
February. 
 
5.  For March 2003, WFP plans to target roughly 93 
percent of the total rural population in need, 
that is, 4.7 million beneficiaries of the 
estimated 5.1 million.  A total of 59,262 MT of 
food commodities is projected to be distributed in 
all 49 of WFP's targeted districts.    Comment: 
When combined with the C-SAFE pipeline which is 
distributing food to nearly 700,000 beneficiaries 
in 7 districts for a total of over 5.5 million 
people, the international food assistance effort 
has become immense.  Although post is still unable 
to get accurate data on GOZ food imports and 
distributions, it seems clear that international 
food now dwarfs other sources of food, 
particularly GOZ food, and can no longer be 
characterized as targeted food assistance.  End 
Comment. 
 
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FOOD PIPELINE STRONG THROUGH END OF APRIL 
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6.  At WFP's current ration of 10 kilograms (kg) 
of cereals, 1.0 kg. of pulses/beans and 0.6 kg. 
vegetable oil per person per month (pppm), it 
projects that it will have sufficient cereal 
supplies to provide a full ration to all of its 
targeted beneficiaries through the end of April 
2003.  Full rations for pulses and oil up to the 
end of April 2003 still need to be confirmed.  By 
the end of March, WFP expects to stop general 
distribution of dry CSB rations, in favor of 
targeted supplementary feeding in all districts 
for selected vulnerable groups.  WFP is currently 
identifying additional partner organizations to 
implement the supplementary feeding program. 
 
7.  WFP's current Emergency Operation (EMOP) 
10200.0 is scheduled to be completed at the end of 
March 2003.  The EMOP will be extended by three 
months, until the end of June 2003.  In May, in 
expectation of the maize harvest, WFP projects 
that it will cut its beneficiary population from 
the current high of 5.0 million beneficiaries. 
The extent of the cuts will depend on crop 
assessments for the upcoming harvest, expected to 
be completed by the end of March, and other 
factors described below.  WFP will likely require 
additional pledges of cereals, pulses, and CSB to 
meet beneficiary requirements through the end of 
June.  These actual needs will be better clarified 
once the crop assessments are completed, 
beneficiary numbers are readjusted, as necessary, 
and other donor contributions are confirmed. 
Based on current rough estimates, WFP projects a 
shortfall of some 50,000 MT of cereals, 15,000 MT 
of pulses, and 20,000 MT CSB through the end of 
June 2003. 
 
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HUMANITARIAN BRIDGE TO OPEN AT BEITBRIDGE 
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8.  WFP has reached agreement with the Government 
of South Africa and the Government of Zimbabwe 
(GOZ) to reopen the old bridge over the Limpopo 
River at the Beitbridge/Messina border crossing. 
The bridge will be used for humanitarian purposes 
only, and is expected to greatly reduce the time 
required for humanitarian assistance to transit 
the border.  The bridge is still undergoing 
rehabilitation, and is expected to open in late 
March (2003). 
 
9.  WFP has deployed a full-time expatriate 
logistics officer to work at the Beitbridge border 
crossing.  The logistics officer reports good 
cooperation with GOZ authorities and that average 
commercial crossing time has been reduced to ten 
hours from three days during December. 
Bottlenecks at the border crossing that appeared 
in early March have now been resolved, and the 
transit of commodities has been significantly 
facilitated. 
 
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HARARE MILL UNLIKELY TO OPEN 
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10.  Due to concerns about US-donated biotech 
maize, the GOZ continues to require WFP to mill 
all GM maize prior to distribution.  WFP is 
currently milling approximately 12,000 MT of US 
maize per month in Bulawayo, and 8,000 MT per 
month in South Africa.  Because of adequate 
current capacity in Bulawayo and South Africa at 
this stage, remaining stocks of maize are not 
expected to necessitate the use of additional 
milling sites in Harare or Gweru. 
 
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CURRENT RESOURCES 
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11.  The Zimbabwe portion of WFP's EMOP 10200.0 
for Southern Africa has been 83 percent resourced. 
As of March 10, WFP had received commitments of 
375,759 MT of food commodities.  The total appeal 
under EMOP 10200.0 was for 452,955 MT.  If WFP 
receives new commitments equal to the 77,196 MT 
shortfall, WFP reports that it will have 
sufficient commodities to meet beneficiary 
requirements through the end of June 2003.  The 
United States remains the largest single donor, 
pledging 136,873 MT, valued at about $67 million, 
towards EMOP 10200.0, or about 36% of total donor 
pledges to date.  Since February 2002, the United 
States has committed a total of 165,493 MT of food 
commodities to WFP's two EMOPs 10200.0 and 
10140.0, valued at more than $82 million. 
 
12.  WFP has accepted a pledge of 100,000 MT of 
maize from South Africa for the current food 
security crisis in Southern Africa.  WFP expects 
that approximately 64,000 MT of this maize will be 
designated for Zimbabwe.  South Africa, however, 
is not able to provide the necessary funding to 
transport the commodities to Zimbabwe or deliver 
them to the final delivery points.  DFID 
(Department for International Development)-UK and 
the Norwegian Government have pledged to cover a 
significant portion of these transport costs, and 
other donors are being sought to cover the 
remaining gap.  SULLIVAN