Zimbabwe likely to face another drought

A swathe of Zimbabwe, running from the southwest to the northeast, faces a “Phase 3” food crisis after a sporadic start to the November to March rainy season, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network said.

Phase 3 is just two steps down from full-blown famine, the USAID-funded Fewsnet said today.

The forecast for the region is for “below average rainfall,” it said.

Parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi will also be affected, it added.

It’s the second drought in as many years.

“Many areas of the region are likely to face a second consecutive poor rainfall season and harvest,” the organization warned.

That’s particularly bad for Zimbabwe where the “poor macro-economy is negatively affecting planting and germination rates,” it said.

Millions of rural Zimbabweans are too poor to plant and farm corn, the country’s staple food.

Zimbabwe faces an economic crisis where shortages of cash, fuel and electricity cripple people’s access to basic food.

According to the World Food Programme  8 million people are facing severe food shortages, 2.2 million of them in urban areas.

The WFP says it plans to provide cash to 200 000 of these people but has so far secured funding for 100 000 only.

“High staple prices in the region are contributing to below-average purchasing power for a significant number of poor households,” Fewsnet said, mainly because prices are trending 5% to 10% above the five-year average in South Africa, the region’s biggest producer and the source of much of the region’s milled corn.

Farmers in Zimbabwe traditionally plant corn in November when the rainy season begins. So far, they’ve received as little as 55% of normal rainfall, with the luckiest receiving 85%.- Bloomberg/Own

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