WFP believes El Nino drought puts Zimbabwe at risk for another dry season
According to a U.N. World Food Program report released Thursday, Zimbabwe looks to be on the verge of another dry period that could exacerbate hunger for millions of people currently experiencing drought brought on by El Nino.
Zimbabwe and its neighbors declared a state of calamity due to food shortages as a result of Southern Africa’s worst drought in decades, which began early this year.
October typically marks the beginning of a six-month rainy season, and it was predicted that rainfall would continue then. However, Zimbabwe has only seen a couple days of rain in late November thus far.
“We’re concerned. During a food distribution event in Chivi, southern Zimbabwe, Barbara Clemens, country director of the World Food Program, stated, “As you can see, the ground in front of us is bone dry.”
In order to save what little food they have, families in the district are already missing meals.
After the corn crop she sowed in late November failed to sprout, Georgina Maphosa, 74, expressed her anxiety that hunger would worsen the next year.
“I’m able to eat once a day now. Maphosa, who got up at five in the morning to wait in line for food handouts, said, “I had hoped that this season would be better, but my early crop is already a write-off.”
In May, the government declared that over half of Zimbabwe’s 16 million people needed food assistance this year.
Since land reforms implemented by former president Robert Mugabe in 2000, which interrupted production, Zimbabwe has been unable to feed itself, and climate change has made it more difficult for the nation to produce adequate food.
