HARARE, Zimbabwe, Dec. 4  -- The Zimbabwe government has appealed for more than $450 million for food, officials said Thursday.

"The humanitarian situation is very serious and government must mobilize maize and wheat to last until March next year," Christian Katsande, the permanent secretary in the ministry of industry and international trade said in Harare.

Zimbabwe is facing serious food shortages after suffering below normal rains in the last half of the previous planting season followed by a harsh dry spell, the Harare Herald said. (UPI)