percent of whom are estimated to be unemployed) continues to face increasingly severe deprivation. On December 14, 2007, in an address to ZANU-PF’s congress, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Gideon Gono, accused senior ZANU-PF officials of corruption and stated that the country lost an estimated US$1.7 billion per year “through economic sabotage perpetuated by the few” with the knowledge or complicity of government officials.30 Human Rights Watch has found no evidence that the Zimbabwe authorities are taking any serious steps to address corruption in relation to food insecurity. Conversely, we found that individuals within ZANU-PF have exploited their political connections to secure preferred access to scarce commodities like maize meal and farming inputs for export or for sale locally at exorbitant prices. Endemic corruption has aggravated food insecurity and exacerbated the food shortages. In February 2007, Gideon Gono also accused the country's leadership of encouraging the growth of corruption and cited the "ridiculous" practices of the state's Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as fueling corrupt practices.”31 Corrupt practices by ZANU-PF officials have also led to severe shortages of seed and other farming inputs such as fertilizer. Many of the government’s agricultural policies have benefitted—seemingly by design—the political elite and larger-scale farmers. Agricultural experts and small-scale farmers told Human Rights Watch that official policy and supply of seeds and other inputs were highly politicized and affected by corruption.32 The government’s most recent policy, the “Champion Farmer Program” (also known as the Master Farmer Program), was supposed to provide seeds, fertilizer and farm implements to farmers with a good farming productivity record.33 Several farmers who qualify for the program told Human Rights Watch that they believe the program was being used for political purposes and that most of those included in the program were ZANU-PF loyalists. For 30 Address by Dr Gideon Gono, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to the Extraordinary Session of ZANU-PF Congress in Harare, December 14, 2007; see AFP, “Mugabe's cronies strip Zimbabwe of scarce cash: bank chief,” December 14, 2008, http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=17919, (accessed December 4, 2008). 31 “Reserve Bank governor blames ruling elite for country's ills,” Irinnews, February 1, 2007, http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=15967, (accessed December 4, 2008). 32 Human Rights Watch interviews with agricultural experts and small scale farmers, Harare, Mashonaland East and West, Manicaland, Midlands, Masvingo, November 26-30, 2008. 33 Human Rights Watch interviews, Harare, November 16-26, 2008; “Zimbabwe: You have to plant before you can harvest,” IRINnews, October 8, 2008, http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=80820, (accessed November 29, 2008); “Mujuru launches Champion’s Farmer Program,” The Herald Newspaper, November 29, 2008. 15 Human Rights Watch January 2009