According to a Business Day Live report, poor families in Zimbabwe will receive assistance from the Japanese government in an effort to establish food security. The United Nations (UN) has warned that between January and March of next year, more than two million people will be a part of southern Africa’s food crisis.

Through the UN, Japan has contributed upwards of $4.2 million. World food program (WFP) initiatives orchestrated by the UN support families in rural areas as well as those suffering from malnourishment, tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS.

“Japan’s support enables the WFP to increase its assistance to people most at risk so they can lead more productive lives,” Sory Ouane, Zimbabwe’s UN agency director told Business Day Live.

“Unfavorable weather patterns continue to have a negative effect on harvests, resulting in widespread food insecurity,” Yonezo Fukuda, Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe added. “Our support is designed to sustain the most vulnerable and make them better able to cope during difficult times.”

Over the next five years, the report stated, Japan will lend $32 billion to WFP initiatives that cater to the entire continent of Africa. As soon as October 2013, 1.8 billion needy people will benefit from both cash transfers and food distribution.

For the last 45 years, Japan has helped to fund emergency food programs servicing developing companies. In the last ten years alone, Japan has contributed $35 million to the UN’s Zimbabwe WFP mission, Business Day Live noted.