Severe food shortages in Midlands and Matabeleland South

World Vision International (WVI) said on Wednesday that severe food shortages were affecting large parts of the Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces, with the Bulilimamangwe district in Matabeleland South near the Botswana border being one of the worst affected areas. “The food shortages have been largely drought induced,” Marko Ngwenya from WVI in Harare told IRIN. “First we had cyclone Eline and then the drought, so for quite some time the area has not experienced consistent rainfall,” she said. “We have to remember that we are talking about communal farming areas, not commercial farms. So most farming is done for subsistence purposes, so if there is no rain there is no food.”

During a recent food assessment mission to the two provinces, WVI found that in seven districts targeted by WVI for food assistance, over 50 percent of the population had no livestock, no reliable source of income, no agricultural implements, and with very little grain production taking place. “We have been unable to carry out a detailed nutrition survey, but from very rudimentary findings we can say that the nutrition situation is quite bad obviously because of the lack of food,” Ngwenya said.

WVI said in its food assessment that it recommended that some form of food distribution begin in September until May, when most people would begin harvesting their crops. “We are currently in discussion with other agencies to see how we will go-about the food distribution, but our intension is to begin as soon as possible,” Ngwenya added.