A/HRC/43/44/Add.4 basic commodities to cushion the citizens. The Government also took the positive aforementioned step to liberalise the importation of grains by private players. We are grateful that some development partners are complementing Government efforts with drought relief programmes in some of the worst food insecure districts. 11. Other renowned organisations that have also carried out similar surveys in Zimbabwe, like the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), have painted a different picture. In its analysis, IPC noted that 25% of the population was estimated to be in a crisis and faced moderate to large food consumption gaps. It also projected that despite the humanitarian assistance already provided, between October and December 2019, an estimated 3,58 million people, about 38% of the population, would be in need of food aid, with nine districts classified as emergency cases. 12. Furthermore, Zimbabwe is an ecologically diverse country with five distinct regions, which in turn influences the humanitarian and economic situation of each region and consequently, bears on the realisation of food sufficiency. The district of Mwenezi, which was sampled by the Special Rapporteur, lies in region 5, which is the driest region in the country. As a consequence, any slight climate shock will be amplified and the resulting responses will command greater engagement and resources. This is not withstanding the fact that the largest inland dam, Tugwi-Mukosi, was commissioned in the same district and is set to offer agricultural opportunities to thousands of households through irrigation and other downstream jobs. The assertions that the food crisis is man-made is therefore erroneous. However, the Government remains committed to cooperating and engaging with the international community in addressing these challenges, including on the need for the removal of all forms of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, which have predominantly thrown the country into economic meltdown. A. Historical and Political Context 13. The Government notes and acknowledges the appreciation by the Special Rapporteur regarding the history of the country, from the time of the British occupation to the peaceful transfer of power from the late former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe to President E.D Mnangagwa in November 2017, which ushered in the 2nd Republic, and to the subsequent harmonised elections of 31 July 2018 that were resoundingly won by ZANU(PF). 1. Land Reform 14. Zimbabwe inherited a skewed land tenure system from the colonial era, whereby a minority 4 500 white farmers owned a total of 12.5 million hacters arable land, while 7.4 million indigenous people owned only 2.5 million hacters of the total 15 million hacters of arable land in the country. As part of the Lancaster House Agreement of December 1979 that ushered in Zimbabwean independence, the then Conservative Government in Britain and the United States Government pledged to provide full funding for land reform in Zimbabwe. However, in 1997, the new British Government unilaterally abrogated all provisions that were contained in the Lancaster House Agreement and cut all funding previously directed at land reform. To this end, the Government was compelled to enact legislation to launch the fast track land reform programme in 2000, which has to date seen 360 000 families being resettled. B. Economic and Financial Situation 15. Regrettably, the land reform programme attracted the ire of some Western countries, which imposed illegal sanctions on the country. These sanctions have had the effect of strangling the country's economy. Measures such as the US's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA), have led to a drying up of lines of credit to Zimbabwe from the International Financial Institutions and other sources. In this regard, the Government acknowledges the Special Rapporteur's apt observations regarding the adverse impact of the illegal sanctions and restrictive measures on the livelihoods of Zimbabweans. The impact of 5