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Drought-stricken Zimbabwe declares state of disaster

Residents say food aid reserved for those with key ties

By FARAI MUTSAKA, Associated Press
Published: February 5, 2016, 9:55pm

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe — Cattle, thin like their owners, wander in a parched riverbed. Desperate villagers barter a few fish for maize because there is no money for food. In this drought-stricken area of Zimbabwe, some people allege that who you know determines whether you’ll get state food aid, with those out of favor with local officials going hungry.

Underscoring the severity of the drought linked to the El Ni?o weather pattern hitting much of southern Africa, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster Thursday, with the hope of speeding up the flow of aid to needy communities.

The drought has devastated crops. 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.

Mugabe’s declaration makes it easier for the World Food Program and other agencies to mobilize assistance for Zimbabwe, Eddie Rowe, WFP country director, said Friday.

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 WFP, a United Nations agency. That number could go even higher and the food crisis could spill into next year, said Prisca Mupfumira, Zimbabwe’s minister for public service, labor and social welfare.

Families are going up to two weeks without a solid meal in Madan’ombe, a village in Masvingo province in southern Zimbabwe.

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 foodstuffs such as maize. Ordinarily, the family would be busy in the fields, weeding a maize crop. Now they can only watch as skinny donkeys graze on failed crops. Vast fields lie dry and fallow.

A nearby shopping center is packed with food items such as rice, the staple maize meal and cooking oil, mostly imported from neighboring South Africa. But with mines and other industries closing because of economic problems, people can’t afford to buy them.

Most Zimbabweans rely on agriculture for a living, and Mupfumira, the Cabinet minister, 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.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project, a nongovernmental 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.

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