Binga grapples with hunger as drought crisis spirals

SIXTY-SEVEN-YEAR old Esnath Mudimba of Siameja village in Binga district’s Siansundu ward seems to be all signs of pain as she goes about her household chores.

She wakes up early in the morning to check on her only grandchild, a 16-year-old girl, if she is okay before she does her prayer and gets on with the business of the day.

Such has been Mudimba’s routine ever since she lost her husband and children several years ago.

She has lived in poverty for the better part of her life, she told Southern Eye on Sunday recently.

“I have lived much of my life without my husband and all my children are dead,” Mudimba said.

“I stay here with my granddaughter, who has some chronic illness.

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“Every morning I wake up to check on her and I pray that God will protect and heal her.”

Mudimba is among thousands of families in Binga who face serious food shortages, which, if not urgently addressed, could lead to starvation as some people are already surviving on one meal a day.

Binga — one of the marginalised communities in Zimbabwe — is already facing a food crisis, villagers said.

A 2024 World Poverty Clock report says 7 579 825 people in Zimbabwe are living in extreme poverty, throwing into doubt the country’s capacity to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Ninety-nine percent of these people are in rural areas of which 51% are women, the reports reads.

“If it wasn’t for the assistance that we are getting from the Red Cross, we could have died of hunger,” Mudimba said.

“We could hardly have a meal in the afternoon and most of the time we went to bed without eating anything.”

Mudimba is among 4 000 families in Binga who are benefiting from the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) Early Action Protocol project whereby the drought-stricken villagers receive mealie-meal and porridge for primary school learners.

The project is supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Village head Champion Muleya (74) who oversees 25 households in Kankonde 4 Mpande village said most families hardly have any food to eat.

“Some are having just one meal a day while others have nothing to eat at all,” he said.

“We have many families who have nothing to eat. Families headed by the elderly, the sick or the disabled are in a desperate situation.”

Muleya said lives would be lost if relief food was not delivered to the area immediately.

“The Red Cross is playing its part, but we had poor harvests so they should consider extending their programme.”

Zimbabwe is grappling with the effects of El Nino with an estimated six million people being food insecure, according to the World Food Programme.

The drought has worsened water shortages in the country, exposing 2,6 million people to water insecurity.

Binga, being one of the driest districts in the country, is among the worst affected.

Monica Mpande (52) of Mupute 6 village told a distressing story of starvation, saying she was struggling to feed nine family members, including three who are in school.

“I am looking after my three grandchildren and my children. Sometimes we forgo breakfast and eat one meal in the afternoon and nothing in the evening,” she said.

“We are here to register so that we can get food assistance from the Red Cross.

“My grandchildren are already benefiting from the school feeding schemes.”

Fifty year-old Emilia Mudenda said she was doing menial work to feed her family.

“I rely on a small garden where I grow a few vegetables, but we no longer have water and the crops are wilting,” she said.

“I do piece jobs to sustain the family I am looking after.”

An average family in the area comprises nine people and food runs out fast.

“A bucket of maize can feed the family for five days and lately the price of maize/millet/sorghum has gone up,” Janet Mpande said.

“I am staying with my children and relatives, we are nine.”

She said most families are forced to barter their livestock for a song for maize as hunger bites.

“People are giving away their livestock, especially cattle, in exchange for grain,” Mpande said.

Binga did not receive meaningful rains.

“The rains have been erratic since the onset of the wet season,” said village head Muleya.

“Crops have wilted and rivers are dry.

“This is one of the worst droughts ever and hunger is biting.”

Matshuma Mudimba (50) said many families had withdrawn their children from school because of hunger.

“We appeal for the reintroduction of supplementary feeding programmes in schools and we are happy that our children are receiving food aid,” Matshuma said.

A survey carried out by this publication in several wards of Binga recently showed that most families were struggling to get food and most sources of water have since dried up.

Mlibizi, one of the major water sources in the area, is teetering on the brink of disaster due to declining water levels and villagers said this signalled a severe drought.

“The remaining livestock will die because there is no drinking water. Normally, Mlibizi would by this time of the year be plenty of water,” Muleya said.

ZRCS secretary-general Elias Hwenga said the Early Action Protocol project was meant to ease the burden for families during the drought period..

“The project’s goal is to mitigate drought-induced food insecurity through implementation of early actions targeting 4 000 households in five wards in Binga district,” he said.

“The project is responding to El-Nino induced drought.

“Under the second trigger, the project intends to support schools feeding interventions targeting all students in the targeted schools through provision of corn soya bend during the third term of 2024.”

Hwenga said the ZRCS was also giving families a 10kg bag of maize meal for each family member under the Early Action Protocol project.

“The overall project goal is to provide immediate food assistance and access as well as extending support towards sustained nutritional access for the most vulnerable households,” Hwenga said.

He said the selection process for the beneficiaries was primarily participatory with the communities coming up with food insecurity indicators, which they would then use to rank all the households in each of the villages across the five project wards.

“Our coverage is limited due to resources and there are about several other wards in Binga that are in dire need of assistance,” Hwenga said.

He said given the situation in the homes, the need for support was glaring.

“It is unfortunate that this project is ending soon, but there is need for support in this area considering that most families are food insecure,” Hwenga said.

Hwenga said even the small grains failed, which points to a severe drought.

The ZRCS is supporting the government to address the root causes of vulnerability through activities that strengthen safety nets and build resilience, while also providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people, including people with disabilities, during severe seasonal shocks.

This is being done to help Zimbabwe achieve SDG 2 on ending hunger, and SDG 17 on global partnerships.

Binga is a low-lying area in the Zambezi valley, which makes it drought-prone. Here resides one of the most marginalised communities in the country.

Zimbabwe could be experiencing its worst drought since the 1991-1992 dry spell that led to the death of more than one million cattle.