Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has declared a state of disaster in most rural parts of the country severely hit by a drought, with 26 percent of the population said to be in need of food aid, Reuters quoted the government as saying in a statement. Declaring a state of disaster allows international donors to raise money quickly to provide food aid to Zimbabwe, which has said it will step up imports of the staple maize by buying up to 700,000 tonnes this year to avert hunger. The southern African nation is still struggling to overcome a steep 1999-2008 recession that saw its economy contract by nearly 50 percent. The worst drought in a quarter of a century is expected to exacerbate its problems.
