Associated Press - December 22, 2003

"It's tragic that these ration cuts have come at a time when people are normally celebrating the festive season, but if we're not given food or cash by donors, then we're simply unable to meet their food needs," World Food Program regional director Mike Sackett said in a statement.

In July, WFP appealed for $311 million to feed 6.5 million people in southern Africa through June 2004 - two-thirds of which was for Zimbabwe.

So far, donors have pledged less than half that amount, leaving a $161.3 million shortfall.

Maize meal rations for the most vulnerable Zimbabweans have been reduced by half, while oil and pulses are being cut altogether, WFP spokesman Mike Huggins said from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Prospects for the first quarter of next year - Zimbabwe's traditional "lean season" - are even bleaker, WFP said. By January, most rural granaries will be exhausted, and harvests are only due in March and April.

As many as 6 million people could need food aid in the first three months of next year, according to the independent Famine Early Warning Systems.

"We urgently need new cash contributions to avoid a further reduction in rations which would have devastating consequences," Sackett said.

Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980, with acute shortages of hard currency, gasoline and essential imports.

The government's seizure of thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks, along with erratic rains, has crippled the agriculture-based economy.

Foreign loans, development aid and investment have dried up in protest against human rights and civil liberties abuses.

With inflation running at 620%, few Zimbabweans still have enough income or savings to buy staples like maize meal.

AIDS is compounding food shortages, with an estimated 43% HIV prevalence rate on farms, compared with a national figure of 24.6%. Hardest hit are those aged 15-23, the core of the agricultural labor force, according to a recent U.N. report.

Cropped areas have declined by 39% over the past decade. Yields are down by 59%, and produce reaching the market has declined by 66%, WFP said.

"In most rural areas, there is simply not enough food to go around," the statement said.

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