Staff Reporter

Approximately 126,798 people in Kwekwe district are food insecure as Zimbabwe grapples with the aftereffects of a drought induced by El Niño.

Midlands Province Social Development Officer George Madzima revealed this last Thursday, stating that the government is swiftly moving to cushion citizens in the district through a grain distribution program.

“So far in Kwekwe, we have 126,798 people who are food insecure. We are currently distributing grain to all the rural wards in the district, and we have so far covered 21 out of the 33 wards. The grain required to feed those people is 2,852.96 tonnes,” he said.

Madzima added that about 65,000 people have benefitted from the government’s grain initiative.

“We have so far reached 65,646 beneficiaries through the grain distribution initiative, and that is 64 percent coverage,” he said.

In April, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a nationwide State of Disaster following the El Niño-induced drought. The government has started the process of distributing food aid to food-insecure communities.

Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo said the country has enough food to last until the end of the drought.

“We have enough grain in the country—both maize, wheat, and traditional grain—there is no need to panic. In the first three months, we have already disbursed 50 percent of the food aid, and we are assessing progress,” he said.

According to the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee, about 6 million people in rural areas and 1.7 million people in urban areas require food aid.

Unicef reports that 580,000 children in Zimbabwe are experiencing severe food poverty, and the number is likely to increase due to the current drought.