Zimbabwe’s government has vowed to work hard to prevent people from dying of starvation
More than half of Zimbabwe’s population will require food aid this year due to a severe drought that has caused widespread crop failure, the southern African nation’s government has announced.
Between May 2024 and March 2025, 6 million people in rural areas and 1.7 million in urban regions, totaling 51% of the country’s population, will need assistance, the cabinet said on Tuesday, citing a report by the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZIMLAC).
The figure excludes an additional 4.5 million people who will require school meals, according to ZIMLAC.
“Government is working hard to ensure that no one will die of hunger,” the cabinet stated in a message published on the website of the country’s Information Ministry.
“Going forward, Zimbabwe’s food security thrust will center on the reduction of reliance on rain-fed food production by strengthening initiatives such as climate-proofed agriculture, with a focus on conservation agriculture and expanding the area under irrigation,” it added.
Zimbabwe is one of the southern African countries hardest hit by the El Nino-induced drought, which the government says is the worst it has experienced in 40 years. Zambia and Malawi are also facing food shortages this year. El Nino is a naturally occurring weather phenomenon that disrupts wind patterns, resulting in warmer ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.
Most provinces in landlocked Zimbabwe have experienced crop failure since November, with hotter areas writing off harvests of corn and other staples.