Zimbabwe seeks $1.8 billion in drought aid to avoid starvation

In an effort to save the country form going into starvation because of the drought, Zimbabwean Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday appealed to local businesses and charities for nearly $1.6 billion in aid.

Last week, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe declared a ‘Sate of Disaster’ in many rural areas that were hit by severe drought. “The government of Zimbabwe requires a total of $1.57 billion with effect from February to December 2016,” Mnangagwa reportedly said. “The amount of rainfall received to date is inadequate to meet basic household consumption needs as well as support for livelihoods, agriculture and wildlife.” Approximately 1.5 million tons of staple maize, most of which would be imported, would be required to feed people from February to December, Mnangagwa said. He also said that the southern parts of the country were the worst affected with tens of thousands of cattle dying, boreholes drying up and dam levels falling.

Zimbabwe, which was once known as  “breadbasket of Africa,” is now cash-strapped and is struggling to feed its own people due to a severe drought, which has been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon that has also affected South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. Last week, the Zimbabwean government announced that nearly 2.44 million people in the country, more than one quarter of its population, were “food insecure.”

Mugabe has blamed the low farm yields on erratic rains due to climate change, as well as sanctions imposed by western countries over his government’s tainted human rights record.

“The April 2015 harvest in Zimbabwe was 50 percent lower than the previous year,” David Orr, a spokesman for the United Nations’ World Food Programme, told the Guardian. “With the drought continuing, it looks like the lean season is going to continue beyond the harvest time this year. The number of food-insecure people is likely to rise and continue rising.” Zimbabwe’s public works minister Saviour Kasukuwere while speaking on the matter, said, “[With] the continued threat of the El Nino-induced drought, his excellency the president has declared a state of disaster in regard to severely affected areas”.

Critics say the food shortages have been partially caused by the president’s land reforms enacted since 2000 when the government oversaw the often violent eviction of white farmers.

Many farms are now under-utilized and the government has vowed to hold an audit to ensure agriculture land is put into production.