HARARE, Zimbabwe, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Serious child malnutrition has increased by nearly two-thirds in parts of Zimbabwe compared to last year, a British non-governmental agency says.
A report from the international aid group Save the Children said the jump in malnutrition is seeing many children "wasting away from lack of food," causing innocents to suffer because of a political crisis in the country that's beyond their control, the BBC reported Saturday.
"There is no excuse for failing to provide this food," Lynn Walker, program director for Save the Children in Zimbabwe, said in the report, adding that 5 million people in Zimbabwe -- about 50 percent of the country's population -- are now in need of food aid.
Among the reasons for the rising malnutrition is a breakdown in Zimbabwe's farming sector, where President Robert Mugabe launched a land reform project targeting white-owned farms, and a cholera epidemic aided by the collapse of the country's health and sanitation services, the BBC said.
