One of the worst droughts in recent memory is devastating southern Africa, leaving nearly 70 million people without enough food and water. In northern Zimbabwe’s Mudzi district, a community gathers on a dry riverbed, where the Vombozi River once flowed year-round but is now just endless sand. Armed with shovels and buckets, men dig into the riverbed, desperately trying to find any remaining water. Rivers and dams in the area have dried up, forcing more people to rely on this riverbed in Kurima village, which is putting pressure on the dwindling water supply.
The riverbed is dotted with small holes barely big enough for a bucket, and children are bathing while women wash clothes and give their thirsty cattle water. Among them is Gracious Phiri, a 43-year-old mother of five, who told the BBC she now spends three hours every day traveling to fetch water. As she lowers her bucket into the half-meter-wide hole and draws brown water, she worries about her family’s health, saying, “The cattle drink from the same pit as us. Their urine is right there… it is not very healthy.”
Food is also scarce in Zimbabwe, with 7.7 million people facing hunger. In Mudzi, the number of families with enough affordable, nutritious food has dropped by more than half compared to previous years, according to local health authorities. Children are particularly affected, with hospital admissions for malnutrition doubling since June. The community is trying to tackle the problem through a village feeding program, where women gather once a week to make porridge for children under five using whatever ingredients they can find. However, due to poor harvests, essential items like cowpeas and beans are becoming unavailable.
The drought, driven by the El Niño weather pattern, has led to a total crop failure, according to Kudzai Madamombe, Mudzi district’s medical officer, who told the BBC that the feeding program might soon stop due to dwindling food supplies.
Clinics in the district are also struggling, with boreholes running dry, and the major dam in the area has only a month’s water left. This has forced the suspension of vegetable irrigation schemes that supported 200 local farmers.
The situation is dire everywhere. Tambudzai Mahachi, a 36-year-old farmer, told the BBC she planted acres of maize, cowpeas, and peanuts but got nothing in return—not even enough for a single meal. Normally, she would supply markets in the capital, Harare, but now she is among the millions of Zimbabweans relying on handouts.
Though the village feeding scheme provides food one day a week, her children need to eat every day. She said they’ve gone from eating what they want to limiting meals, with her youngest child often still hungry.
The drought has led about a third of southern African countries to declare a state of disaster. Nearly 68 million people across the region need food aid. The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has asked for $5.5 billion in aid, but only a small amount has been received. Tomson Phiri, a spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), told the BBC that southern Afri
ca is facing its largest maize shortage in 15 years and that the situation will only get worse.
For those digging at the Vombozi riverbed, the hunger and water crisis is expected to peak later. October, the hottest and driest month, is still ahead.
If rain falls in November or December, the usual start of the rainy season, farmers will have to wait until March to harvest maize.
As Tambudzai Mahachi cracks open wild fruit to ease her hunger, she is uncertain about what the coming months will bring for her family, as BBC reported.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq6rvz4p37do