IT’S been dubbed the ‘Godzilla El Nino’. And now the weather phenomenon is living up to its name as southern African nations cop the brunt of its wrath and Zimbabwe declares a state of disaster.
The El Niño, which was declared in May last year, has developed into the most significant and largest of its kind for nearly two decades, ranking alongside those in 1997-98 and 1982-83.
The phase is caused by warmer sea temperatures in the Pacific sucking warm, moist air over North America while leaving southern Africa and Australia hot and dry.
The drought has severely impacted Zimbabwe, devastating crops and causing some families to go up to two weeks without a decent meal. Starving cattle wander over parched riverbeds in the region.
The number of Zimbabweans in need of urgent food aid has spiked to about one quarter of the population of 13 million people, according to the World Food Program.
Zimbabwe’s minister for social welfare Prisca Mupfumira said that number could go even higher and the food crisis could spill into next year.
The situation is especially acute in Zimbabwe where a declining economy and rising unemployment have made life hard for many people in a country once known as a regional breadbasket.
Jonathan Manyowa, an 87-year-old resident of Gondo village in Chivi district, spends his days under the shade of a tree, warding off any animals that stray into the field where he has struggled to grow a maize crop.
“The last time I witnessed such a catastrophe was when I was a very young boy, and it was not even this disastrous,” Manyowa said.
Many families in Madan’ombe, a village in Masvingo province in southern Zimbabwe, are also struggling to survive.
Loveness Ndlovu and her six children prepare smoked fish on a fireplace in a round hut devoid of any other food.
The children, who last tasted meat a month ago, know better than to salivate over the six catfish caught in a lake by their father, Zimaniwa.
“They can only touch the fish, they cannot eat,” Ndlovu said.
“It’s two weeks now since I last had a proper meal. If it gets worse, I will have to beg from other villagers so I can at least feed my kids.”
The parents plan to barter the fish for other food including maize. Ordinarily, the entire family would be busy in the fields, weeding a knee-high maize crop. Now they can only watch as skinny donkeys graze on failed crops.
Vast fields lie dry and fallow.
A nearby shopping centre is packed with food items such as rice, the staple maize meal and cooking oil, mostly imported from neighbouring South Africa.
But with mines and other industries closing because of economic problems, people can’t afford to buy them.
Some villagers, however, trade maize for fish.
“There is not much circulation of cash here so we have to rely on barter trade,” Zimaniwa said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster on Thursday.
WFP country director Eddie Rowe said Mugabe’s declaration makes it easier for the United Nations agency and other agencies to provide aid to Zimbabwe.
Most Zimbabweans rely on agriculture for a living. Minister Mupfumira said the government plans to import 700,000 tons of maize to distribute to the needy.
Some Zimbabweans believe they won’t get a share because they don’t know the right people. Mugabe has been in power for decades, his government holding a tight grip amid periodic accusations of human rights abuses and voter fraud.
Masvingo province resident Sydney Makabe said only those close to the district councillor get to eat.
“Rations that are coming now are supposed to be given to the elderly. But many times, we see young people who don’t qualify getting the food,” Makabe said, adding that he is not involved in politics.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project, a non-governmental group, said reports indicate food is being used in some cases as a political weapon to punish the opposition.
It cited 135 cases of “food violations” from September to December 2015.
In Gwanda, a town southwest of Harare, the residents’ association is encouraging people to buy ruling ZANU-PF party membership cards and attend party meetings to enhance chances of getting government-funded food aid.
In January, dozens of villagers from rural Mutasa district, east of Harare, reportedly stormed a government grain warehouse, demanding an end to the politicisation of food aid. Police later summoned and questioned local lawmaker Trevor Saruwaka of the main opposition MDC-T party.
Mupfumira promised to act against any distribution problems. “As government, we are responsible for the welfare of all citizens. Anyone politicising food aid will be punished severely, but we have not received any such reports yet,” Mupfumira said.
Most people, however, are likely to be assisted by donors rather than the cash-strapped government. Despite icy relations with the West, Zimbabwe has averted food crises for the past decade due largely to Western assistance. The United States and the European Union said last month that they are increasing humanitarian funding.
The WFP has said it has mechanisms to “mitigate against the politicisation of food assistance in Zimbabwe as elsewhere in the world” and that it works closely with Zimbabwe to ensure food and cash assistance “reaches only those vulnerable people for whom it is intended.”
- With AP