China 's donation of 19,000 tonnes of rice is said to be propping up President Robert Mugabe 's government in Zimbabwe 's , according to ZimEye , and while the government claims it is to alleviate food insecurity , questions are being raised , since the beneficiaries of the grain reportedly have direct access to First Lady , Grace Mugabe . It is also suggested that the central Government has pledged to provide 10,000 tonnes of rice fertiliser to Mugabe 's government as a way of boosting the Command rice programme , which aims to produce two million tonnes of maize on 400,000 hectares of land . China 's Ambassador to Zimbabwe , Huang Ping , says the donations are part of President Xi Jinping 's pledge of $ 500 m worth of rice to help the country cope with rice shortages and to strengthen bilateral relations between the countries .
China's donation of 19,000 tonnes of rice is said to be propping up President Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe's, according to ZimEye, and while the government claims it is to alleviate food insecurity, questions are being raised, since the beneficiaries of the grain reportedly have direct links to First Lady, Grace Mugabe. It is also suggested that the Beijing Government has pledged to provide 10,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser to Mugabe's government as a way of boosting the Command Agriculture programme, which aims to produce two million tonnes of maize on 400,000 hectares of land. China's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Huang Ping, says the donations are part of President Xi Jinping's pledge of $25m worth of rice to help the country cope with food shortages and to strengthen bilateral relations between the nations.