Heavy rains unlikely to stop Zimbabwe food shortages

Incessant rains pounded Zimbabwe, making last month the wettest December on record, according to the country’s meteorological authorities.

However, the downpours will not save the country from food shortages. Since 2000, the number of people requiring food aid has risen, affecting half the population in the worst months.

The government has previously attributed food shortages to drought. But this agricultural season, severe shortages of fuel, seed and fertilisers have hampered farming.

Following a poor agricultural season last year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) also blamed poor harvests on crumbling irrigation systems and the disincentive effect of the government’s price controls.

An estimated 90% of the country’s arable land is lying fallow, in the wake of the land reform programme displacing about 4000 white farmers over the past seven years.

John Worswick of the Justice for Agriculture Association said that with the dominance of subsistence farming in Zimbabwe, most crops were now planted well after the start of the season, making them more vulnerable to such shifts in the weather.

He estimated a yield reduction of 75%-80% due to the excessive rains. According to last year’s FAO-WFP crop and food supply assessment mission, Zimbabwe’s economic crisis would leave up to 4,1-million facing food shortages in the months before the next main harvest in April.

The state-owned Herald newspaper in Zimbabwe reported on December 29 that more than 300mm of rain had fallen in about half of the country since the start of the month.

This is twice the average for this time of the year. Apart from water-logging in poorly drained areas and flooding in low-lying regions, the rains have filled most dams, especially in the southeastern parts of the country. In the southern city of Bulawayo, which had been experiencing an acute water crisis that forced the decommissioning of four of its five supply dams, the rains are expected to bring instant relief.

But shortages persist due to the city council’s inability to afford chemicals required for purification. “It’s an unsustainable situation,” said spokesman Pathisa Nyathi.

Business Day