The worst drought in almost four decades, cyclone-induced floods and an economic collapse have left Zimbabwe on the verge of its worst-ever famine.<\/p>\n
The southern African nation will probably run out of corn — its staple food — by January and about three out of five Zimbabweans won\u2019t have enough to eat, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.<\/p>\n
While Zimbabwe has experienced intermittent food shortages for the last two decades, the problem has mostly been limited to rural areas.<\/p>\n
This time, 3 million of the 8.5 million people at risk of food insecurity are in cities, said Eddie Rowe, the WFP\u2019s country director in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will have a lot more people hungry in Zimbabwe than ever before,\u201d he said. In the past, \u201cin urban areas the alarm bells were not ringing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crisis Looms<\/strong><\/p>\n The government has already declared a state of disaster because of the drought, which has decimated harvests. One of the strongest-ever cyclones in the southern hemisphere also destroyed crops in March and a deepening economic crisis has limited the government\u2019s ability to address the looming shortfalls.<\/p>\n Since a parity peg to the US dollar was dropped in February, the local currency has slumped to 13.85 to the dollar, making it the world\u2019s worst performer. That\u2019s slashed spending power in a country where most goods are imported. Zimbabwe is already struggling to find sufficient foreign exchange to fund imports of fuel and wheat.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drought has just exacerbated the situation,\u201d said Jee-A van der Linde, an economist at NKC African Economics in Paarl, South Africa. It will \u201cdeteriorate to a point where they need foreign aid.\u201d<\/p>\n The country\u2019s corn crop is expected to plummet 54% this year and Agriculture Secretary Ringson Chitsiko warned in March it only had seven months of grain stockpiles, including corn. Parts of north-western Zimbabwe had their lowest rainfall since 1981, according to the Southern African Development Community.<\/p>\n Zimbabwe has made attempts to replenish its corn stocks, but an international tender for at least 750,000 tons of corn failed because the government and bidders couldn\u2019t agree on financial terms, two people familiar with the situation said.<\/p>\n The country has now agreed to buy 150,000 tons of corn from South Africa, the people said. However, analysts estimate Zimbabwe could need as much as 1 million tons of corn imports.<\/p>\n Sibusiso Moyo, the country\u2019s foreign minister and head of its grain importation committee, didn\u2019t respond to messages sent to his office seeking comment.<\/p>\n Zimbabwe\u2019s crisis has been compounded by smaller harvests in neighbouring countries, such as Zambia, which often have surpluses.<\/p>\n The white corn preferred by Zimbabweans also limits the pool of potential suppliers, as the yellow variety is more common in other parts of the world. In southern Africa, white corn is mainly reserved for human consumption and yellow is fed to animals.<\/p>\n That, combined with Zimbabwe\u2019s discouragement of genetically modified imports, reduces its options for corn supply to South Africa and Mexico, said Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.<\/p>\n Zimbabwe\u2019s creaking infrastructure poses another challenge. The rail system has fallen apart and most imports will need to come by road. Shipments from overseas could take a month to get to ports in neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t begin importing now, logistics will remain a concern,\u201d Sihlobo said. \u201cThere might be too much pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n While other southern African countries ranging from Namibia to Malawi may need aid, Zimbabwe will be the hardest hit, the WFP\u2019s Rowe said.<\/p>\n Their needs won\u2019t be \u201cof the magnitude of Zimbabwe,\u201d he said. \u201cThe difference is the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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