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Pandemic robs refugees of work in Zimbabwe

Published

4 years ago

August 25, 2021

BY LINDA MUJURU AND EVIDENCE CHENJERAYI

Tiny, densely populated houses dominate the Tongogara Refugee Camp in southeastern Zimbabwe. Some are built with bricks made of burnt mud, and others are makeshift homes constructed from tents, wooden poles and plastic.

On this hot day, many go about their business. It’s difficult for people to social distance in the crowded camp.

Only some refugees wear masks. There are hand-washing stations but no temperature checks.

Jackson Mazuru grinds away at his mill, and maize meal covers his face and body.

The bubbly 27-year-old father of two girls is from Burundi. He came to Zimbabwe in 2000 with nine siblings and his parents.

Before the coronavirus — and all the government restrictions that have accompanied it — Mazuru earned up to $50 a day. Today, he makes a fraction of that amount.

The coronavirus has affected millions in Zimbabwe, but perhaps none more starkly than refugees.

Even before the pandemic, they existed on the country’s margins, as Zimbabwe doesn’t give refugees permanent residence status.

The pandemic has robbed them of one of the pillars of their tenuous daily existence — the chance to earn an income.

“I usually buy my grinding mill spare parts in Harare, but with this situation, it’s impossible,” Mazuru says. “I also have customers from outside the camp, but they could not come due to the travel restrictions.”

Tongogara, located 420 kilometers southeast of Harare and host to about 14,967 people, opened in 1983 and is Zimbabwe’s only refugee camp.

Refugees come from countries all over sub-Saharan Africa and can spend more than a decade waiting to be resettled in other nations.

“Some even die waiting for this process to be completed,” says Timothee Mutahonga Djuma, a Congolese refugee who is also a pastor at the camp.

Life at the camp is hard. There is no electricity. Houses are overcrowded. Aid groups supply firewood, but it runs out quickly and arrives inconsistently.

Typically, the refugees receive monthly food aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that includes maize meal, sugar beans, a corn-soya blend, vegetable oil, sugar and salt — nearly 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds) in total. But some months, they don’t receive items such as sugar.

For large families, the supply of food barely lasts a month.

Totamirepi Tirivavi, Zimbabwe’s commissioner for refugees, agreed that the pandemic had negatively impacted efforts to resettle refugees, but did not answer follow-up queries.

The camp’s challenges make work all the more important. In a master’s thesis titled, “Socio-Economic Impact of Refugees on Host Communities.

The Case of Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge District, Zimbabwe,” scholar Terence Madzimure says refugees rely on trade both with each other and with townspeople to acquire food beyond what they receive for free.

Refugees also have opened butcher shops, restaurants and groceries in the camp. Because of the pandemic, many of those small businesses struggle to stay open, Mazuru says.

The pandemic has even hurt refugees with well-established businesses. Celestin Bizimungu, who came from Rwanda 15 years ago, opened a butchery and now has 25 head of cattle and hundreds of goats. He sells beef and goat meat in his shop.

Coronavirus travel restrictions kept away people from outside the camp, and his customer base shriveled.

He used to draw as many as 15 customers a day, he says. Today, he’s lucky to get five.

Since the pandemic erupted in March 2020, Zimbabwe’s government has ordered two national lockdowns, including one from mid-January to the end of February.

But even after the government eased restrictions, business didn’t pick up because many people couldn’t work during the lockdown and had limited funds, Mazuru says.

Mazuru, who has spent most of his life in the camp, lives there with his wife, children, father and siblings.

To make extra money, he has added welding to his grinding mill work. He supports the coronavirus restrictions, even though they’ve hurt business, he says.

The pandemic further delayed the efforts of refugees who were hoping to start enterprises, including camp residents such as Stephane Mudika Tundu, who fled Democratic Republic of Congo in 2013 with some of his family.

He planned to open a hardware store but hasn’t earned enough to start the business.

Back in DRC, Tundu, 57, was a sales manager in a shop that sold furniture and electronics.

“But since I came to Zimbabwe, I cannot work” formally, he says.

Tundu, who says he fled persecution in DRC, now worries about education for his 19-year-old.

“Not being able to have tertiary education and be employed means my child and others in the camp are stuck,” he says. “What kind of future can they have without a job and qualification?” – Global Press Journal

National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

Published

5 days ago

April 16, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY WANDILE TSHUMA

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

In the community

Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

Published

5 days ago

April 16, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

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Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

Published

2 weeks ago

April 4, 2025

VicFallsLive

Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”