More than half of Zimbabwe’s population will need food aid this year after an El Nino-induced drought decimated crops and livestock during the 2023/24 summer cropping season.
This is based on the Second Round of Crops, Livestock, and Fisheries Assessment of April 18, 2024, and the Rapid Village-based Food Assessment concluded on April 15, 2024.
In a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, 14 May, Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere said that six million people in rural areas will require assistance between May 2024 and March 2025. He said (via NewsDay):
The Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee Report (ZimLAC) indicated that 1,7 million people who reside in urban areas will require assistance.
A total of 7,7 million people, being 51% of the population, will require food assistance. This excludes a further 4,5 million who will require school meals.
Muswere also said the grain stock at the Grain Marketing Board as of May 9, 2024, stood at 423 779 tonnes.
He added that the private sector is expected to import all its stock feed requirements of 400 000 tonnes, and urban maize requirements of up to 450 000 tonnes by March 2025.
Muswere said the ZimLAC 2024 Urban Livelihoods and Nutrition Assessment revealed that 65% of urban households were food secure, while 35% were food insecure.
The proportion of food-insecure urban households translates to 1,732,770 people.
Speaking during yesterday’s post-Cabinet, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Anxious Masuka said that the 2023/24 Summer Crop Marketing, Food Security Outlook to March 2025 indicated that close to 8 million people would need food aid, which represents more than half of the population.
According to the 2022 census conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZIMSTAT), Zimbabwe’s population was 15 178,979.
