The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Zimbabwe has begun a six-month emergency food program for 12,000 people in the Binga district of the Matabeleland province, southwestern Zimbabwe.

The program, which will run from July through December, is being funded by the German Foreign Ministry and ADRA Germany. People being helped under the program will receive a monthly allowance of basic foods such as maize, beans, and vegetable oil. Preference is being given to people who have no income or support from other relatives, those who normally have one meal per day or less, and those who are living in an area identified as having very poor soil.

“ADRA’s food program will make a tremendous difference because the maize harvest in Zimbabwe this year is expected to be 50 percent to 70 percent less than last year,” says Frank Teeuwen, bureau chief for disaster preparedness and response at ADRA International.

Several million people in the region have been impacted by food shortages, which have been caused by prolonged periods of drought that alternated with flooding throughout the southern part of Africa. Donations to ADRA’s African food shortage response can be made online at www.adra.org.