JOHANNESBURG, 4 May 2007 (IRIN) - IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 331 for 28 April - 4 May 2007

CONTENTS

ZIMBABWE: Faith alone is not enough SWAZILAND: Alternative crops take root ZIMBABWE: Cops ban media freedom marches

COMOROS: Armed standoff in run-up to island elections ZIMBABWE: Consumer watchdog warns against maize price increase SOUTH AFRICA: HIV prevention services miss rape survivors

ZIMBABWE: Faith alone is not enough

A church-led mediation effort aimed at a negotiated solution to Zimbabwe's political crisis has been shaken by government claims that the clergy support the opposition, and that the interdenominational initiative has its own internal rifts.

A coalition of churches, under the banner of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, has been attempting to bring President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to the negotiating table, to bury their differences and solve the country's deepening political and economic crises.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71938

SWAZILAND: Alternative crops take root

After years of cajoling by nongovernmental organisations and Swaziland's ministry of agriculture to plant drought-resistant crops and diversify from maize, the staple food, small-scale farmers are finally heeding the message.

The drought that devastated crops in the first quarter of the year seems to have been the catalyst for small-scale farmers to re-examine their passion for growing maize and experiment with other plants, a move that food security officials hope will prompt an interest in alternative crops.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71936

ZIMBABWE: Cops ban media freedom marches

Zimbabwean police banned journalists from holding peaceful street marches on Thursday to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, while there were renewed calls to repeal harsh media laws and improve working conditions for journalists.

In its World Press Freedom Review report released on Monday, the International Press Initiative said although Zimbabwe was not the most dangerous country for journalists to work in, it was probably the most difficult. The ban came as local and international press freedom lobby groups called for the establishment of independent media organisations.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71934

COMOROS: Armed standoff in run-up to island elections

In an exchange of gunfire, national government troops stationed on Anjouan, one of the three semi-autonomous islands that make up Comoros, clashed with local police on Wednesday, according to local media. Elections for each island are scheduled in June, but the archipelago's delicate power-sharing agreement hangs in the balance.

This latest standoff between national and local authorities follows the start of electoral campaigning on Monday for the presidency of each individual island. There are now fears that voting, scheduled for 10 June, will need to be postponed.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71930

ZIMBABWE: Consumer watchdog warns against maize price increase

The Zimbabwean government has raised the price of scarce maizemeal by almost 600 percent to stimulate production, but a consumer watchdog is warning that it will make the staple food unaffordable.

Agriculture minister Rugare Gumbo announced this week that the retail price for maizemeal would go up by 570 percent to support a 680 percent increase awarded to maize farmers.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71908

SOUTH AFRICA: HIV prevention services miss rape survivors

South African rape survivors are not receiving vital anti-HIV treatment due to ignorance and a lack of basic treatment procedure at government health facilities and justice departments, new research shows.

The National Working Group on Sexual Offences, a consortium of 25 organisations that includes the Teddy Bear Clinic for sexually abused children and the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, which focuses on sexual abuse cases, submitted the findings of a recent survey to the South African Human Rights Commission.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71888

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