The Sunday News
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
SHE wore a threadbare sky blue blouse and a dark blue skirt — a uniform of a school in Bubi district in Matabeleland North Province. The blouse was not tucked in and had two missing buttons detouring the protrusion of her stomach but she looked not bothered.
She had no school shoes and no socks but wore a pair of an evidently small size black Tommy shoes with no shoelaces which was bulging from inside pressure with her big toes pressing as if they wanted some fresh air.
Her satchel was precariously hanging open on one shoulder with all signs of a zip that refuses to co-operate. It wasn’t half open but the piece of what remained of the zip held the top and bottom sides of the book bag together at the middle.
She excitedly hurries to the shed while others formed a beeline behind her all looking happy that they would at least dig into a plate of some steaming food provided at school.
Most of them had left home without eating anything. A few would have eaten some porridge, while the lucky ones would have drank tea, never mind what they ate in place of bread. The long and short of the story is that parents are hard pressed to provide food and the little basics that their children need at school.
“In previous years when the rains were good we would not rely on school feeding programmes. We would make sure our children are fed and carry enough to school but this year it’s a different story. We did not harvest anything. We are buying mealie-meal in town and the costs are just prohibitive and calls for strict budgeting,” said a parent, Mrs Nobuhle Dube of Majiji Ward 4 in Bubi district.
She expressed gratitude to the Government for catering for the school children saying it was going to be exceedingly difficult for parents to be able to provide for their kids’ food needs.
Bubi district Chief Executive Officer Mr Partson Mlilo confirmed that the drought situation in the district was getting worse as people have already exhausted the little that they got from their fields.
“There is nothing in the entire district. There is hunger and people are buying mealie-meal but how many households are able to buy with the current wave of price hikes in shops,” said Mr Mlilo.
He however, said the Government was intervening through the Social Welfare Department that was providing feeding in schools and in communities although the food was not enough.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Richard Moyo concurred saying all the seven administrative districts of the province were hard pressed by drought but said the Government was aware and was moving with speed to alleviate people’s suffering through such programmes as food for work.
“It’s true that there is drought. People are suffering in our communities. All the seven administrative districts of the province are in need of food. I do not have the numbers but nothing was harvested in the whole province, so the whole province needs food.
“We hope the Social Welfare Department continues with the work it is doing — there are giving out food to vulnerable members of the community while the able bodied are doing food for work. In schools they are giving supplementary feeding and we applaud the Government for that,” said Minister Moyo.
Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Co-Deputy Minister, Douglas Karoro told Sunday News that the food security situation in most parts of the country was far from being rosy. He said the situation in Matabeleland North mirrors what was being experienced in most parts of the country.
He said the five southern provinces of the country were most affected, adding that most communities have sent an SOS to Government and its partners for assistance, prompting the Government to flight an international tender to import 720 000 metric tonnes of maize.
He said the country was left with 420 000 metric tonnes of maize in its strategic grain reserves and is making efforts to ensure it was distributed to hunger stricken communities to ensure no one starves.
“The country’s strategic grain reserve currently holds about 420 000 metric tonnes of maize with the harvest from last season projected to be slightly above 700 000 metric tonnes. Zimbabwe requires at least 1,4 million metric tonnes of maize annually for both human and animal consumption. We consume approximately 120 000 metric tonnes of maize per month and Government is aware of the food situation urgency and is doing everything in its power to make sure there is food security,” said Deputy Minister Karoro.
He added that food security was their priority as a ministry and were working to ensure that no one lacks.
“We are working hand in glove with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare that advises us where there is lack and they have been working in the communities and giving supplementary feeding in schools so that learning is not disrupted because of hunger,” he added.
He admitted that this year the rainfall was not as good as it was last season due to El Nino but added that the Government was putting in place strategies to mitigate the effects of drought as it was becoming apparent that climate change was real.
“We are working on measures to adapt to the potential effects of El Nino. Climate change is real and its effects need strategic planning so that in future its effects on agriculture are minimally felt. Irrigation has become the answer to crop production as rain-fed agriculture is no longer sustainable,” he said.
He said the El Nino phenomenon was usually associated with prolonged droughts or mid-season droughts and floods but in Zimbabwe past El Nino seasons have led to droughts that have resulted in crop failure, livestock and wildlife deaths.
“We are working on irrigation rehabilitation, development and expansion with the assistance of partners. We want to ensure that we develop 200 hectares of irrigation per every district although this intervention has been affected by shortage of funds. Government cannot go it alone, so we have engaged willing partners who are helping us with the requisite financial resources,” he said.
Co-Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos emphasised the need for communities to be taught about water harvesting techniques. He talked about shortage of bread saying the country had a shortage of the product but said Government was working on importing it.
“Wheat is an extremely important crop to our nation. Unfortunately we have never produced enough wheat in Zimbabwe to be self-sufficient. This year we had enough inputs under the Command Agriculture Scheme for
60 000ha and the private sector had enough inputs for 15 000ha to make a total of 75 000ha. If this was grown, we would have had in excess of 70% of our annual requirement. “Unfortunately many farmers did not grow wheat this year. The main issue that was being cited by farmers was that there has been load shedding and that this would no doubt affect their crop,” said deputy minister Haritatos.
He said the Government was looking at importing approximately 49 000 metric tonnes of wheat that is immediately available for purchase in the region. GMB flighted a tender for 200 000 metric tonnes of wheat and several different companies showed their interest.
“Currently we consume 30 000 metric tonnes of wheat per month, and therefore we expect after this importation, we will certainly have enough wheat well into the new season.
Going forward we urgently need to address the issues regarding load shedding which is negatively affecting our farmers. Our ministry is making the necessary representations to the Ministry of Energy in the hopes that they will engage Zesa to urgently assist in this situation,” he added.
He submitted that they were looking at increasing the land under irrigation in order to ensure that the country produces the bulk of its annual requirement of wheat.
