JOHANNESBURG, 14 September 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will soon start distributing agricultural inputs funded by the European Union (EU) to 176,000 poor communal farmers in Zimbabwe.

The EU Food Facility is funding the inputs as part of a larger programme that brings together the humanitarian community in Zimbabwe to reach a total of 620,000 farmers with agricultural assistance this year.

The Food Facility funds are being channelled through UN agencies as well as other organizations. The FAO has allocated over $22 million of its share of more than US$290 million from the facility to Zimbabwe. The EU aims to bridge the gap between emergency aid and medium- to long-term development aid.

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