Climate change: Zimbabweans bear the brunt of food price hikes

Lazarus Sauti

An El Nino stimulated dry spell, characterised by extremely hot and dry weather conditions currently ravaging most, if not all, parts of southern Africa has left Zimbabweans in dire straits.

More than 1.5 million people in the country, notes the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, are food insecure, meaning they lack access to food that’s sufficient to lead healthy as well as active lives.

This is sad because about 70 percent of the Zimbabwean population depends on agriculture for employment on top of food security.

The food situation is worsening and most communities are already calling for food aid from the Government and its donor partners since their reserves have dried up.

“An El Nino induced drought currently experienced in this country is fast becoming a disaster-triggering agent as it is intensifying social and economic problems as well as reducing the overall livelihood security of citizens,” said Dickson Matenda, an agronomist.

He added: “Thanks to the recurrent drought, most citizens are now food insecure and are relying on food handouts from the Government and generous non-governmental organisations.

“Sadly, the assistance from the Government as well as non-governmental organisations is now greatly erratic, a situation which further exposes many villagers not only to hunger, but diseases too.”

Matenda said villagers in Buhera, Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces are most affected as their areas are prone to droughts.

“Areas like Buhera, Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces receive normal to below normal rainfall and villagers in these areas are mostly affected as most crops, especially maize, are write-offs and they are forced to sell their cattle to raise money to buy maize and other food stuffs,” he said..

Fadzai Magwegwe (42), a farmer in Bikita, Masvingo Province, concurs.

“We have a serious drought here in Bikita and other surrounding areas. Our crops, especially maize, are wilting and some are write-offs,” she said.

Magwegwe added that the biggest fear for most of her peers is that they might also lose their livestock due to the drought.

Most citizens, especially in rural areas, are bearing the brunt of the drought, not only because they are losing their livestock, but due to food price hikes.

Unscrupulous traders, for instance, are shredding off villagers, who are also living in abject poverty.

“Dodgy maize traders are ripping us off as they are cashing in on the deteriorating food situation and have since hiked the price of maize from US$5 to between US$7 and US$10,” said Isaac Mapfumo (38), a small-scale farmer in Makanda, Wedza.

He added: “Because we are now desperate and panicking, we are selling our cattle at as low as US$150, down from US$350 so that we can raise money to buy maize and other small grains such as sorghum (mapfunde), millet (mhunga) and rapoko or finger millet (rukweza).

“It is naïve and simplistic to keep the cattle whilst we are dying.”

Mapfumo also said some villagers are surviving through exchanging their chickens and goats for mealie-meal.  

Another farmer from the area, Stella Makoni (28) says food stuffs are now expensive due to the drought and food shortages.

“A 10kg bag of mealie-meal was US$6.50 in November last year, but it is now US$8.50 to US$10 at local shops.

“Unconfirmed reports say some general dealers are selling it at US$12,” she said.

A special alert released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) recently also indicated that the El Nino-induced drought raving most countries in southern Africa had already contributed to higher prices.

David Phiri, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Southern Africa, however, believes Zimbabwe, like any southern African state, need to pro-actively respond to price hikes by importing commercial food from outside the region.