ZIMBABWE: A Stalinist-style agricultural policy that would allow the Zimbabwean government to force farmers to produce certain crops has been recommended by the country's reserve bank as a way to stave off famine.
The call by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe coincided with the revelation that a number of young children have died from malnutrition recently.
Zimbabwean health officials have confirmed that at least 14 children under the age of four have died from malnutrition in the southern African country over the last month.
The bank has recommended that the state urgently implement a "command economy" agricultural policy to boost food production and avoid further starvation among its population, which has suffered food shortages since the government-sponsored farm seizures started in 2000.
State-sponsored farm invaders have killed at least 15 white farmers since the land grabs began, while tens of thousands of farm workers have also lost their only source of income.
As a result of President Robert Mugabe's so-called land reform initiative, commercial agriculture and food production has dramatically shrunk, leading to the current food shortages.
Last month a US-funded organisation, Famine Early Warning Systems Network, warned that around 5.8 million people would need food aid until next April's harvest.