"The government has to provide food aid to six million people living in rural areas (...). In urban areas, 1.7 million people are also in need of food assistance," Zimbabwe's Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka told a press conference after a cabinet meeting in Harare. Zimbabwe is facing a severe food deficit, worsened by a drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has reduced the country's harvest by 70-75%, Masuka said. The situation requires urgent attention, he warned, estimating the cost of the required food aid at US$3 billion (about €2.7 billion), which the government will seek to raise in partnership with the private sector. Zimbabwe has stocks of more than 400,000 tonnes of cereals, which can last until October, said Masuka, who stressed the need to import more food for the southern African country. By the end of this week, 10,000 tonnes of wheat are expected to arrive from Zambia, in addition to the 270,000 tonnes received from Russia. Zimbabwe will also import 1.4 million tonnes of maize from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Russia by the end of July to alleviate hunger, according to the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ). The African country will thus increase its maize imports, which since 15 October 2023 have reached 427,000 tonnes, with monthly entries averaging 100,000 tonnes. On 3 April, Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa declared a state of national disaster due to the lack of rainfall caused by the El Nino phenomenon, which has caused a food deficit that is causing damage to most families. Mnangagwa said that 1.7 million hectares that had been planted with maize and other cereals were decimated by the unprecedented heat and lack of rainfall. El Nino is a change in atmospheric dynamics caused by an increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean. This weather phenomenon is also causing torrential rains in East Africa, which have already caused hundreds of deaths in Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia. Read Also: Zimbabwe declares state of calamity due to drought and asks for help (Portuguese version)