Dateline ACT

Zimbabwe 0104

As conditions worsen, Zimbabweans use hard work and perseverance to cope

By Eva Berglund, Church of Sweden Aid/ACT International

Zimbabwe, May 27, 2004--April and May are harvest months in Zimbabwe, but again this year, many small farmers will not reap enough to meet their long-term food needs. Humanitarian aid organizations working in the country are expecting this year’s food supplies to be lower than normal again as a result of unreliable rains. The World Food Program estimates that 5.5 million out of the total population of 11.6 million are at risk of food shortages. Many Zimbabweans have been relying on emergency food assistance, and these needs for assistance could continue beyond the end of harvest time.

Christian Care and Lutheran Development Service (LDS), two local members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, have been addressing immediate food needs through feeding programs, mainly in schools. Their work in fulfilling food and other needs, which include those in the area of HIV/AIDS, is being carried out under increasingly difficult circumstances.

In addition to drought conditions for the past three years, farmers have lacked seeds and fertilisers, and a controversial government land-redistribution program has reduced the food output of Zimbabwe’s commercial farms. These factors have all contributed to food shortages in both urban and rural areas, which is in turn exacerbated by deepening poverty.

The general population has faced soaring inflation, which in February reached 602 percent, according to Zimbabwe’s Central Statistical Office. The unemployment rate was estimated at more than 60 percent in April, according to the United Nations. ACT member Christian Aid reports that the price of everyday goods has risen sharply since December 2003 - bread and cereals by 10 percent and milk by 21 percent.

While the needs are enormous and span many areas – food, health, economic, political and social - in this crisis, an LDS project to construct irrigation canals is addressing immediate food needs in one community while, at the same time, providing assistance that will help its residents recover from the current hardships and become self sustaining in the longer term.

On a February day, some women involved in the construction of the irrigation canals were walking with stones on their heads, dropping them one by one close to a field of maize. The construction of the irrigation system was almost complete, but parts of it had already been put to use and were supplying water to fields of knee-high maize plants.

The Mpape irrigation group has 95 members - 42 women and 53 men. Each has a 14 by 5 meter plot of land to cultivate. Ten years ago, the community started to build a dam for the area, and more than 500 people were involved. It was a year of drought, and many of them were expecting to receive food at the work site. When they discovered that there was no food distribution, most withdrew from the project, leaving 105 people. They continued their work, and in 1996 the dam was completed.

The next step was to peg a field for irrigation. Several problems occurred in the process, and the group finally managed to get water from the dam to the field last year.

“We continued our fight against hunger despite the problems,” said the chairman of the irrigation group. “We have got a lot of support from Lutheran Development Service, and the project has really helped us.”

Currently, the construction of the canals is a food-for-work project of LDS. Every month, each household with involvement in the construction receives 50 kg of maize, 10 kg of sugar beans and 1.5 liters of cooking oil.

“The food assistance encourages us to continue our work,” said Mrs. Wamambo, one of the group’s members. “We don’t need to worry about how to get food for our children.”

The total area that is cultivated is 1.4 hectares. An additional four hectares of land is now cleared and ready for an extension of the irrigation system.

These farmers are now harvesting their maize crop, which will mean no hunger for some time for them and their families. The completed irrigation system will then supply water for maize, the 71 fruit trees currently growing, and other vegetable crops during the dry season and will reduce the farmers’ dependence on the rains. They hope to grow two crops a year so they can have a steady supply of food.

With the construction of the dam, the community will also be able to farm fish. Members of the group can sell the surplus fish and vegetables to neighbours. With their profits they hope to build a storeroom for tools, seeds and vegetables and invest in a local savings and credit cooperative.

“We get money to pay the school fees for our children, and that is important,” explained Mrs. Marangarire. “Before, we were both mentally and physically affected when we couldn’t get food, seeds and money. Now the situation is much better.”

The ACT communications office contributed additional information for this Dateline.

This Dateline is part of a series on the drought in southern Africa.

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