Many dying from malnutrition in Mashonaland West

19 November 2008

Areas in the north west of Zimbabwe such as Chinhoyi, Karoi, Banket, Mhangura and Doma, were once prolific food producing areas and the breadbasket of the country, but there is no food there now. Associated Press correspondent Angus Shaw, who returned from this province recently, says shocking scenes from the food catastrophe are unfolding.

He said; “We saw people scratching in the ground for mealie meal pips that have fallen off the backs of vehicles. We even saw some people searching in cow dung for maize kernels that had not been digested by the cattle... and they wash them and add them to a tiny plastic bag that they carry – until they have enough to actually make a meal.”

The correspondent said the whole food chain has been disrupted, resulting in villagers competing with wild animals for roots and wild fruits. Shaw said all small animals have been poached in North of Doma, so baboons and jackals are coming down into the communities to find wild fruits, while lions are preying on donkeys and the few cattle and goats that are left.

At one school in Doma village enrollment is down to four pupils, from 20, and desperate parents who can manage to keep their children in school pay fees with chickens or goats.

Shaw said in areas like Mhangura and Doma information is almost as scarce as food.Cell phones operate only sporadically and many people can’t even hear state radio because of power cuts or broken down radio relay beacons. The hospital and mortuary have closed down and water has been intermittent for four months.

The AFP correspondent said: “Some of the scarce water is used to embalm the dead in wet sand, a centuries-old African tradition to preserve a body until family members gather for the burial.”It’s difficult to know how many people are dying as all semblance of local government and civil service has totally collapsed. Shaw said in the areas he visited there are no death or birth registries. “It’s merely anecdotal evidence and there are no statistics from hospitals because hospitals are closed.”

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme has signed a new, two year, US$500-million aid deal to ‘allow’ them to supply food to economically and politically ravaged Zimbabwe. The WFP said the money will provide 350 000 tons of food to the most vulnerable groups. It’s reported that two thirds of the 350 000 tons had already been secured and was being distributed. The UN agency estimates that at least half the population – five million people – face starvation by January.