Zimbabwe distributes food hampers

Zimbabweans are suffering from chronic shortages in the shops

Zimbabwe's government is to distribute cheap food hampers to help people deal with inflation of 2,200,000%.

Basic products to last a family of six for a month will cost Z$100bn, the current cost of a loaf of bread, the state-run Herald newspaper reports.

It was launched by President Robert Mugabe who was re-elected last month in a controversial one-man race.

Meanwhile, a deal on pre-conditions for power-sharing talks is expected, but so far the opposition has not signed it.

"It is not that we are refusing to sign, but that the processes need to be tightened," opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told South Africa's Star newspaper.

FOOD HAMPERS Cooking oil Laundry and bath soap Flour Maize meal To cost Z$100bn, the cost of a loaf of bread To last a family of six for a month Diary: Circus leaves town

The African Union has called for a unity government to be formed after Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of June's run-off election, citing state-run violence.

South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, who has been leading mediation efforts, had been expected in Harare on Wednesday for the signing.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said that it will only consider going into talks with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party on forming a unity government if there is an end to political violence and the release of its supporters from prison.

The MDC says 120 of its supporters have been killed, some 5,000 are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced from their homes since the first round of voting in March.

'First step'

Zimbabweans are suffering chronic shortages of meat, maize, fuel and other basic commodities and most shops are empty because of a price-control policy implemented by the government a year ago.

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On Wednesday, it was announced that Zimbabwe's annual rate of inflation has surged to 2,200,000%.

The food hampers are intended to reach all households to be distributed at local centres and at a village level by chiefs and headmen, the Herald reports.

It says each hamper will contain items such as cooking oil, soap, flour and maize meal and those that cannot afford it in rural areas should be able to arrange to pay at a later date.

The opposition has alleged in the past that food is used as a political tool and chiefs are often aligned to the ruling party.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step," central bank governor Gideon Gono said at the launch of the hamper scheme.

"So this is but one step that we have taken as we implement strategies to improve the lives of our people."

Not long before the June 27 run-off, the government launched "people's shops", where goods were to be sold at low prices to help people cope with galloping inflation.

However, the opposition criticised it as a political ploy and there are reports that after an initial opening, stocks have not been replenished.

Reuters news agency says that long queues formed outside those shops that did open to buy as much as they could to sell on the black market at inflated prices later.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7511147.stm