UN asks for food aid for Zim

According to the WFP an estimated 3.3 million people will need assistance during the peak hunger period between November and March.

It has appealed for $118 million dollars (£58 million) in aid from international donors.

Soaring poverty

"WFP plans to feed more than 10 times the current number of beneficiaries over the next eight months to avert the threat of widespread hunger, but to do this we need more donations and we need them immediately," the agency's regional director, Amir Abdulla, said.

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Some of the communities worst-affected are in Zimbabwe's drought-hit southern provinces.

But the UN says the situation has been made worse by soaring poverty, hyper-inflation and the impact of HIV/Aids.