The nation of Zimbabwe, in a desperate move, declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, with a tone of grave concern, announced that the country needed a staggering $2 billion in aid to combat the hunger crisis affecting millions of people. The government, in a race against time, is prioritizing winter cropping to boost reserves and working with the private sector to import grains. “No Zimbabwean must succumb to hunger,” Mnangagwa emphasized. “Adequate resources will be mobilized and redirected towards food security.”
In a speech broadcast on local TV, Mnangagwa made a heartfelt appeal to private businesses, urging them to step up and contribute cash and grain. He also announced a significant government initiative- purchasing 200,000 tons of maize to distribute to poor households. The move came after heart-wrenching reports that tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have been losing weight and experiencing malnutrition due to the drought.
A severe dry spell induced by the El Nino weather pattern is wreaking havoc across Southern Africa. The World Food Programme estimates that a staggering 2.9 million Zimbabweans need food assistance. The crisis, a human tragedy, also affects Malawi and Zambia, which have both called for emergency humanitarian assistance. The drought has wiped out harvests in major food-producing areas and left families, our fellow human beings, without enough to eat.
Zimbabwe is a large grain producer and once was a regional breadbasket, but Mnangagwa’s regime has pursued an economic policy that favored the wealthy while neglecting agriculture. Many of the country’s 15 million people live in rural areas, where they grow most of what they eat and sometimes small surpluses to cover expenses such as school fees.
El Nino, a cyclical weather phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific Ocean every two to seven years, usually causes below-average rainfall in southern Africa, but this year’s El Nino has been one of the strongest on record. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the current event reached a peak in December and should continue fueling above-normal temperatures until May over most of the continent.
An official in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture told AFP that the government is working with international donors to import staple grains into the country. The official urged the public to exercise caution when purchasing imported maize, saying it might be more expensive and could lead to price increases.
Mnangagwa, 80, is seeking re-election this month in elections that his rival, Nelson Chamisa, has dismissed as fraudulent. The disputed vote pits Mnangagwa against an alliance of opposition groups and Western powers who say he is using the election to consolidate power after ousting former President Robert Mugabe in 2017.
The government has barred exports of raw lithium, used to make batteries for electric vehicles, as it seeks to build production capacity domestically. However, analysts say that lacking capital, legal certainty, and technical talent could raise costs or cause slow production. They say China, which has a strong relationship with Zimbabwe, is likely to play a big role in the supply chain. The two countries have also formed a partnership to tackle global food insecurity, including partnering on disaster relief and development.