Categories: Stories

More than half the people of Zimbabwe went without food several times over the past year

More than half of the people of Zimbabwe, 52%, went without food several times over the past year while 87% had no cash income many times, according to a survey by Afrobarometer that was released on Thursday.

The survey involved 1 200 people and was conducted between 16 April and 1 May this year and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Zimbabwe has produced a bumper harvest and has more than 800 000 tonnes of surplus maize.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has told the nation that the country is recovering and they should not let anyone tell them that Zimbabwe is not rising once again.

According to the Afrobarometer survey, an average 52% said they went without food several times with 54% in rural areas and 48% in urban areas.

Seventy-nine percent of those in urban areas said they had gone without cash income several times while 91% in the rural areas said so.

Interestingly more people in urban areas did not have enough clean water for home use than those in rural areas. The survey said an average 51% did not have enough clean water, with 44% in rural areas and 62% in urban areas.

Lack of medical care seemed to be affecting both rural and urban dwellers equally with those saying that they did not have adequate health care averaging 55%. Those in rural areas were slightly higher at 56% and urban areas 53%.

Ed: Is it true that more than half the people of Zimbabwe went without food? Did you go without food?

(164 VIEWS)

This post was last modified on June 20, 2021 3:07 pm

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Zimbabwe third among the least free countries in SADC

Zimbabwe has been ranked third among the least free countries in Southern Africa but it…

May 24, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death- Take 1

I had always considered it a curse for a wife to die before her husband.…

May 18, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death

This is a true story about the challenges and loneliness I faced when my wife…

May 17, 2026

Coming soon

My first long-form article in booklet form: Why I had a girlfriend two months after…

May 16, 2026

Insider Publisher starts whatsapp channel

The editor and publisher of The Insider, Charles Rukuni, has started a whatsapp channel through…

May 15, 2026

Who propped whom: Masiyiwa vs Nyambirai?

A friend who knows about my legal battle with Zimbabwe’s richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, way…

May 1, 2026