HARARE, 4 August 2010 (IRIN) - "Economic and political challenges" combined with underfunded recovery and development are keeping Zimbabwe in a seemingly perpetual state of humanitarian need, aid agencies said to justify an upward revision of US$100 million in projected funding requirements.

"We now require at least $478 million as a result of the dry spell that affected crops between December and February this year," said Alain Noudehou, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Zimbabwe, who launched a revised version of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) - the humanitarian community's most important fundraising instrument - on 3 August in the Capital, Harare, after a mid-year review of needs.

Food aid constituted the bulk of new requirements. At the beginning of 2010 the food component shot up from $59 million to $138 million, but recent assessments identified gaps in health and agriculture, which meant the originally projected total budget of $378 million fell short by some 20 percent.

The revised CAP document said Zimbabwe was at a crossroads, and the humanitarian situation "remains fragile due to the prevailing degradation of infrastructure in the basic sectors of health, water and sanitation, and food security".

Improved food production compared to 2008/09 was attributed to "timely agricultural inputs and extension support provided by humanitarian partners during the 2009/10 planting season", but food insecurity persisted; rates of chronic malnutrition stood at 35 percent.

Some 540,000 people currently require food aid, but this is expected to rise to 1.3 million during the peak of the hunger season, from January to March 2011. Around 4.5 million people have limited or no access to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas.

Beyond humanitarian

The CAP is a strictly "humanitarian" financing tool, traditionally restricted to short-term emergency needs. However, it does not preclude support to communities requiring emergency early recovery so as to strengthen coping mechanisms and sustain livelihoods - a grey area between humanitarian and development operations.

"While some early recovery activities are ongoing as part of humanitarian actions, the lack of major funding for recovery and development remains one of the key hindrances to moving the country out of a situation of generalized humanitarian need," the document said.

"Zimbabwe requires a different approach than most crises," it noted. "Small emergencies continue to develop into major crises requiring relief assistance, due to the unaddressed structural degradation in the basic sectors. With strong infrastructure in place, and with the right level and mix of support, Zimbabwe would have the capacity to rebound faster than most countries in crises."

The CAP highlighted recent examples to prove the benefits of a more comprehensive approach, pointing out that the rehabilitation of rural and urban water supply infrastructure, as part of the fight against communicable diseases like cholera and typhoid, had prevented a repeat in 2010 of the colossal cholera outbreak in 2008/09.

"The root causes of the large-scale measles outbreak that started in September 2009 have been addressed through a nationwide measles vaccination campaign, an activity that would normally not fall under the umbrella of humanitarian assistance."

Asking for money is one thing; getting donors to pay up is another. CAPs are notoriously underfunded; as of 4 August, commitments to Zimbabwe's 2010 CAP covered less than 42 percent of the requested amount.

Beyond aid

Tadeous Chifamba, Permanent Secretary for Regional Integration and International Cooperation, stressed the need for Zimbabwe to become less dependent on international aid and promote sustainable development programmes.

"Food handouts will still be extended to vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, chronically ill, and child-headed households ... [but] we call on our humanitarian community to follow government's call to wean people away from dependency syndrome," he said.

This is not an easy task, and one that will require interventions well beyond the traditional humanitarian mandate, former President of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union, Davidson Mugabe, told IRIN.

"What needs to happen is a multi-pronged approach, in which the Agricultural Bank is adequately financed by the government in order to be able to service the needs of farmers - such as fertilisers, chemicals and other inputs ... That, and nationwide training on the basics of agriculture, would see food security improving."