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Hamstrung by two decades of illegal Western sanctions plus adverse natural phenomena that occurred over the same period, our country’s ability to take care of some of its needs has been compromised.

As a result of the sanctions, industry is running at about 30 percent of capacity, jobs are hard to secure and poverty is also a challenge.

In addition, natural phenomena have contributed to the challenges the country is facing. Droughts are occurring with greater regularity and impact.

Household food security hasn’t been good enough resultantly. Cyclone Idai is yet another natural disaster that has visited our country. The catastrophe that hit parts of Manicaland and Masvingo in March last year killed hundreds of people, displaced thousands and destroyed infrastructure worth billions of dollars.

These challenges have had a huge negative impact on the economy and its ability to fend for its people.

On that basis President Mnangagwa on Thursday launched an international humanitarian appeal for aid amounting to US$2,2 billion to cover drought relief and other emergencies over the next 12 months. A portion of that sum, US$220 million is earmarked for the national response to Covid-19, the highly lethal infection that has killed tens of thousands abroad and might hit our country as well.

Food insecurity response will need US$955,67 million; US$20,8 million for social protection; US$75 million for education; US$37 million for health; US$469 million for agriculture and US$13, 87 million for nutrition.

About 7,7 million people, both rural and urban, need urgent food assistance and the targeted population for nutrition supplement is 1,7 million people. An additional 1,7 million require social protection and 1,8 million people are in need of agriculture assistance. Some 3,21 million need assistance in education while 12,2 million need health support.

Speaking at the launch of the Zimbabwe Domestic and Humanitarian Appeal for Assistance, President Mnangagwa expressed confidence that with support from cooperating partners and the UN, Government would be able to respond reasonably to the challenges.

“New emerging risks compounded the humanitarian landscape,” he said in the foreword accompanying the appeal.

“The World Health Organisation has declared Covid-19 a global pandemic. The Government in collaboration with development partners has activated the surveillance and preparedness systems. However, the advancement of the disease in this country, the region and its continued upsurge worldwide demands that robust extraordinary steps be undertaken to stave off the threat posed by Covid-19. We therefore appeal to the domestic and international community for  solidarity and support to Zimbabweans at this critical juncture.”

The US$2,2 billion that the country needs to meet its humanitarian needs up to April next year is a large sum of money which the Government would be unable to mobilise through internal sources given the prevailing economic difficulties. The appeal is equivalent to $55 billion, just $8,6 billion less than the $63,6 billion national budget for this year.

By juxtaposing the national budget and the appeal we are attempting to drive home the point that the amount of money that we need as a country for social protection and disaster response from this month to April next year is considerable.

We, therefore, urge the international community to respond positively to the appeal so that the suffering that some of our people are going through is alleviated.

It is unclear yet how big or small this season’s harvest would be. The Government has, since January, been conducting a national crop and livestock assessment exercise to ascertain the condition of crops and be able to estimate how much grain would be harvested. The exercise would also help the Government to understand the condition of livestock, water sources as well as pastures to be able to forecast how they will fare until the next rainy season. At this stage therefore, we cannot say with certainty how many tonnes of food our farmers would harvest.

However, the food assistance appeal of US$955,67 million, accounting for almost 50 percent of the total appeal, could serve as an indication of how the farming season has fared.

Covid-19 is an urgent challenge which we cannot sufficiently respond to alone. We recognise the work that is being done by the Government and its partners in readiness for any eventuality. Wilkins Hospital in Harare has been refurbished with assistance from China. Now the facility is ready to take in patients if any need attention. Institutions of higher education and some companies are manufacturing hand sanitisers, gloves and masks. There is commendable investment in awareness programmes through mass media to ensure that people are aware of Covid-19 and how they can prevent infection.

However, more resources are needed for other facilities to be built and equipped elsewhere around the country. For example, Bulawayo’s Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital must be worked on, the same for Ekusileni. A lot of work must be done at many other health facilities countrywide. All this needs money.

The President is confident that the international community will step forward with the US$2,2 billion for the various emergencies in the country to be addressed. We call upon all who can assist wherever they are, to chip in.