Role of the commercial sector. On the evidence of last year, it seems clear that the private sector will not be able to import the quantities of cereal predicted. Zimbabwe accounts for about half of all the food requirement in the region, and its economic situation in the country is so dire that it is unrealistic to assume that the resources will be available to meet the targets set at the meeting. It is imperative that an explicit monitoring system is put in place to track import movements to ensure the food stocks are arriving and that a comprehensive contingency plan is developed for if proposed imports begin to fall short of needs, as appears to already be the case. To date, and three months after the EMOP was launched, there is no clear evidence that imports are being sufficiently monitored.
Angola. Angola falls outside the Southern African region as defined by UN and by DfID. From October 2002, this will change when Angola is incorporated into the WFP East and Southern Africa structure. However, it has immense food needs, with an estimated 1.9 million people currently affected by food shortage. It is therefore critical that any plans for importing food into the region take account of the demands resulting from the situation in Angola. It is unclear what co-ordination mechanisms exist to ensure that there is a region-wide approach to the crisis that explicitly includes Angola.
Ration size and make up. The proposed response does include a basket of commodities. However, ration size is set below the internationally accepted level for daily nutritional needs (2,100 kCal/day), on the basis that beneficiaries will be able to access food through secondary sources. Studies carried out by Save the Children UK suggest that these secondary sources are all but exhausted. The SPHERE standards, detailing minimum standards in humanitarian assistance, lay down minimum standards for food aid and should be used as the guidelines for all interventions. These must include cereals, pulses and oil.
Capacity of implementing partners. Although most food aid will be channelled through WFP, the distributions themselves will be carried out by implementing partners (usually international or local non-governmental organisations - NGOs). Distributions are resource-intensive and logistically demanding and it is critical that agencies have the capacity and experience to carry them out and to target the food appropriately. Save the Children UK has real concerns that partner agencies, while obviously committed, do not have the necessary capacity, and believes it is imperative that WFP (or another agency) develop a set of guidelines outlining the minimum requirements expected from partners.
Potential for civil disturbance. The current food crisis is affecting groups of all income levels in both rural and urban areas. Save the Children UK believes there is the real possibility of civil unrest in urban centres as food shortages become more severe and of significant refugee movement out of Zimbabwe to South Africa and other countries towards the end of the year. There appear to be no contingency plans that address these eventualities, and these need to be put in place now.
Role of and links with UNDP Consolidated Appeal (CAP). A Consolidated appeal document (for both food and non-food) was presented in New York on the 18th July. The process that had taken place at individual country level, normally led by UNDP, varied widely in degree of participation and the thoroughness with which needs were assessed. It had been agreed at the Johannesburg meeting in June that NGOs and civil society would be consulted as part of the process but this did not happen sufficiently. UNDP missions have inevitably found it challenging to take on the co-ordination role required to deal with a crisis of this scale and this needs to be addressed.
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