Community in epic battle against hunger

WHEN humans and animals scramble for water points, it becomes an epic battle for survival, which villagers in Chivi and Matabeleland North can attest and relate to, as this has become their way of life.

BY PHYLLIS MBANJE

The 2015-2016 El Niño droughts spawned widespread hunger and malnutrition, with over four million Zimbabweans now facing food insecurity. The bulk of this figure is still grappling to reverse the adverse effects, which have crippled communities and reduced them to hovels of poverty.

Many had a depressed cereal production, about a third less than the already poor 2015 harvest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in Zimbabwe.

Livestock production has also been curtailed due to limited pasture and limited water sources. In some areas like Bulilima, villagers and livestock battle over the few water points.

A recent tour of these areas revealed untold suffering and poverty. Tsindika Manhema from Chivi Growth Point sells termites for a living. She has a grandchild whom she has to ensure has enough food every day.

Manhema, who has no idea of her age, sits patiently all day by an anthill dipping a grass straw into the tiny holes and fishing out the little termites, which are a delicacy to many, particularly the imbibers who patronise nightclubs at the growth point.

Dressed in a faded pink floral apron and a multi-coloured blouse that hangs loose on her body, Manhema is not ashamed of what she does.

“I need the money to buy food for my grandchild. The harvest has not been good. We have nothing in our granaries,” she says, wiping away sweat from her forehead with a wrinkled hand.

Momentarily, she gazes into the horizon with a sad frown on her face. She shifts her frame and crosses her legs, which are outstretched. One foot does not have a shoe while the other is adorned with an oversized plastic sandal most probably discarded by someone.

Although it is sweltering hot, Manhema is wearing a woollen hat, which hangs low over her sunken eyes.

There is resignation in her demeanour, as she once again dips the straw into the hole. After a while she gently eases it out and with a deft movement that defies her age squeezes the clinging termites into an old grimy red plastic container. It is almost full of squirming reddish termites. Some look lifeless while some are struggling to clamber out of the tin.

Like many other villagers, Manhema has exhausted her coping mechanisms — such as selling off assets and skipping meals.

She is probably one of the four million people UN agencies are fundraising to feed in Zimbabwe.

Of these, 1,9 million are children under the age of 18 while 33 000 children under the age of five will require treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

Organisations like FAO have stepped in to mitigate the effects of the drought by introducing schemes designed to improve yields and welfare of livestock.

FAO aims to support 6 000 households with subsidised stockfeed and 15 000 households with subsidised small grain seeds in 11 of the worst affected districts.

In many countries, including Zimbabwe, El Niño affected access to safe water, and has been linked to increases in diseases such as dengue fever, diarrhoea and cholera, which are major killers of children.

In Matabeleland North, schoolchildren dig shallow wells in the dry riverbed looking for water.

Nine-year-old Lungile smiles shyly as she digs with her tiny hands in the sand. She is used to the process judging by the way she scoops the sand out until water comes out. Three of her schoolmates help widen the hole and as the water slowly fills up they scramble to get it before it is muddled.

Their teacher patiently stands by occasionally calling out to the children to hurry up.

Most rivers have dried up and humans and animals drink from the same water points. As the children scamper away to their classroom, the reality of the drought sinks in.

At Jalukanga Ward 9 in Beitbridge West, villagers are pinning their hopes on an irrigation scheme.

First established in 1966 with 45 hectares, the scheme had become dysfunctional and the floods of 2000 destroyed the engines. Farmers struggled to repair these and over the years the infrastructure was destroyed.

However, FAO extended an olive branch in 2013 and has since helped with rehabilitation of canals, newer and more efficient pumps.

“The farmers are excited about this project as it will turn around their misfortunes and improve their livelihoods,” Bezel Goredondo, an engineer working on the scheme, said.

Villagers are upbeat about the irrigation and spend hours toiling on their pieces of land.

“We are planting maize and are really expectant that this will lessen this drought,” Tecla Mudzamiri said.

Richard Moyo and his family are also some of the members of this scheme, who are anticipating a better life once they harvest their crop.

“We will have enough for food and some for to sell. That way we will be able to keep our children in school,” he said, gazing at the neat rows that he had just made.

He is proud of his efforts and anticipates a decent harvest.

Many communities will have to wait for a long time for help to come, as there are always issues of limited funding and other logistical constraints.