In the community

As bread prices soar, Zimbabweans forgo key part of diet

Published

2 years ago

July 22, 2022

Admin

BY FORTUNE MOYO

Sithethile Nkomo’s children are too young to understand why their mother no longer sends them off to school with the usual bread and butter in their lunchboxes.

Nkomo’s daughters, ages three and five, are used to eating bread for breakfast, then again for lunch at school, and as a snack when they return home in the afternoon.

Now the single mom packs green mealies, or corn on the cob, and amakhomane, a protein-rich legume with a nutty flavour.

While this provides a healthy alternative, her children miss the bread they are used to eating every day, and Nkomo worries they are not getting all the essential nutrients.

“Bread has become expensive, and the price keeps increasing,” says Nkomo, who works in a grocery store selling the bread she can no longer afford to buy every day.

“When I do not have flour to bake buns, I cook mealies and amakhomane.”

Already recovering from a hike in food prices and limited access to everyday staples due to transportation difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic, Zimbabweans are now suffering the effects of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which has halted wheat exports out of two countries once ranked among the world’s biggest exporters of the grain.

The catastrophic strain on the supply chain is forcing many to reduce their food intake in a country where 2.4 million people living in urban areas had limited food access prior to the conflict.

The high demand for bread in Zimbabwe has elevated wheat to the second most important crop in the land-locked country, after maize, or corn, with more than 400,000 metric tons of wheat consumed each year.

Zimbabwe was once considered the breadbasket of Africa for its rich agricultural landscape, but a recent rise in its dependency on imported goods has slowly erased the country’s self-sufficiency.

Now authorities are considering ways to bolster its production of food, particularly wheat.

In 2019, Hilal Elver, then the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, urged the government to “take the necessary measures to reduce the country’s dependence on imported food … to ensure the country’s self-sufficiency” after finding that more than 60 percent of the population was food insecure.

At the time, the UN said Zimbabwe was on the “brink of [a] man-made starvation,” with Elver citing high unemployment, recurrent droughts and severe price instabilities as factors in the crisis.

Three years later, the conflict in Ukraine has pushed prices beyond affordability.

Nkomo used to buy a loaf of bread, sometimes two, every day to feed her family, but with the price more than doubling in recent months, she can now buy a loaf only two, sometimes three, times a week.

The energetic mom whose smile never fades works 16-hour days at the grocery store and supplements her income with a hairdressing business she runs from her home, providing her with a monthly income of 20,000 Zimbabwean dollars (ZWL) to 22,000 ZWL ($55 to $60). Buying a loaf every day would consume half her monthly income.

She would typically sell 40 to 50 loaves each day at the grocery store, but lately only half that number are leaving the shelves. Store owner Oswald Kasi says bread was one of his fastest moving products.

“The increase in the cost of bread and flour has affected my sales,” says Kasi, who has reduced the number of loaves he orders due to dwindling demand.

Families are forced to seek cheaper alternatives to replace their daily bread, and they’re not always popular.

“Although my children prefer bread, mealies and amakhomane last two to three days while a loaf of bread does not last 24 hours,” says Nkomo, who now favors buying a two kilogramme (4.4-pound) bag of flour for US$2 and making buns, a cheaper option that allows her to stretch the bread supply for her family.

Flour-based foods provide essential nutrition.

Fortifying wheat flour with vitamins A and B, folic acid, iron and zinc became compulsory in Zimbabwe in 2016 to address major vitamin deficiencies found in children ages six months to five years.

Fungai Mvura, Hwange medical officer under the Ministry of Health and Child Care, says the absence or reduction of bread in people’s diets will have consequences.

“Bread is part of carbohydrates, which is the main source of energy,” Mvura says.

“In the long run, cutting down on such products may lead to weight loss, not in the form of fats but loss of calories found in carbohydrates.”

Ukraine is Zimbabwe’s third-biggest supplier of wheat behind South Africa and Latvia, but the stress on the supply chain is forcing officials to consider other options.

“Zimbabwe imports about 130,000 tons of wheat every year to cover the deficit,” says Tafadzwa Musarara, chairman of the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe.

“The Russia-Ukraine war has worsened the situation, and there is a need for us to come up with ways of being self-sufficient.”

Anxious Jongwe Masuka, the minister of lands, agriculture, fisheries, water, climate and rural resettlement, says the government is taking steps toward self-sufficiency.

“This year our goal is to make sure that we increase the number of farmers planting wheat and also increase hectarage,” Masuka says.

“We may need around 75,000 hectares to have enough wheat in the country.”

He says he believes this number is achievable as the country has 65,000 hectares available to grow wheat.

The government confirmed its 75,000-hectare target in a statement released in March announcing an investment of more than $9 million for its Presidential Winter Wheat Programme, which includes providing wheat seeds, fertilizers and machinery for farmers to help the government achieve its goal.

Michael Nyabadza, who for the past five years has grown wheat in Makoni, a district in northeastern Zimbabwe, is one farmer who has benefited from this programme.

“I started with 40 hectares, and I increased to 150 hectares last year, which gives me between seven and eight tonnes of wheat,” says the 66-year-old farmer, who received government assistance in the form of additional seeds and fertilizer to increase his yield.

Nyabadza believes it’s possible for Zimbabwe to be self-sufficient in wheat production, but this goal is not dependent only on a cash injection.

“This year, we got too much rain late into the season, so our maize did not dry early enough for us to remove and free the land for more wheat space,” he says.

“That is how weather has disrupted cropping operations.”

Meanwhile, Zimbabweans like Nkomo can only wait and hope the government’s initiatives pay off.

Each day Nkomo worries her children are not getting the sustenance they need to thrive.“I feel like I am depriving them of something they are used to,” she says. “It’s an important part of their diet.” – Global Press Journal

In the community

Zambia Limits Worship Time To Two Hours To Curb Cholera

Published

4 months ago

January 12, 2024

Admin

BY AFRICANEWS

Churches across Zambia have received a mandate to restrict worship sessions to a maximum of two hours.

The directive, issued by Ndiwa Mutelo, a high-ranking official overseeing religious affairs, also prohibits the sale of perishable and ready-to-eat foods within church premises.

To further minimize the risk of disease transmission, worshippers are strongly advised to refrain from handshakes and hugs. In an official statement, Mr. Mutelo emphasized the importance of maintaining hygiene within worship centers.

Churches are now required to provide safe drinking water, designated hand washing points, and make available alcohol-based hand sanitizers to their congregants.

The urgency of these measures is underscored by the significant cholera outbreak in Zambia, with more than 7,800 reported cases since last October. Over the past 24 hours alone, the health ministry has recorded over 400 new cases and 18 fatalities.

This latest intervention aims to mitigate the impact of the cholera epidemic, emphasizing the collective responsibility of religious institutions in safeguarding public health.

SOURCE: AFRICANEWS

In the community

Lubangwe villagers walk over 30KM to access nearest clinic

Published

11 months ago

June 7, 2023

Admin

BY LWANDLE MTHUNZI

Access to primary healthcare remains a major challenge to communities in Lubangwe resettlement area in Hwange where the nearest clinic is more than 30km away for some.

Lubangwe Railway Farm 55 resettlement was established in 2000 during the country’s land reform when scores of villagers, mostly families of war veterans, were settled in the area.

Government did not construct schools and clinics and old farm buildings were converted into learning facilities.

While some schools are now available as a result, although far away from some villages, the communities remain with no health facility which makes access to health a major challenge.

The worst affected are pregnant women and people living with chronic diseases such as HIV and TB who have to regularly get their monthly allocation of life saving tablets.

Edwin Nyoni, head of village 1 said had it not been for village health workers mortality could be high for people with chronic illnesses.

“We don’t have a clinic and people walk 25km to 30km to Ndlovu clinic because most have no money for transport. We risk our lives through the wildlife infested bush to Ndlovu hence we appeal to the government to help us establish a clinic nearby. We have village health workers who assist to reduce mortality and prevent home deliveries by making sure pregnant women and the chronically ill are assisted to go to hospital,” he said.

In village 2 villagers are patiently waiting for the opening of a clinic after a building was identified for use as a health facility.

The structure has no electricity and water, said village head Joseph Munsaka.

“They promised to bring some nurses to use a building that is lying idle. They said they want to connect water and electricity and we hope this will happen soon to save lives,” he said.

Gilbert Munkuli said sometimes health authorities visit with a mobile clinic at the nearby Nyongolo primary school.

He said some of his villagers walk more than 30km because they have no money for transport making access to health difficult.

“It is more than 30km to go to Ndlovu Clinic and health workers sometimes come to Nyongolo Primary School to give tablets especially to the chronically ill. Those with money sometimes hire cars but some die at home or fail to go to hospital which worsens the burden of diseases such as TB,” he said.

Because of proximity to Hwange coal mining town where most people in Hwange worked at the Hwange Colliery Company, the burden of TB is high around the district as many families have lived in Hwange town at some stage before retiring to the rural areas.

Nesi Mpala of village 2 appealed to the government to open a clinic to save chronically ill community members.

“The clinic is far and people who seek medical attention suffer, with pregnant women and those with chronic diseases the worst affected. People living with HIV and Aids are better because health workers come to give them tablets but those with TB have to go to the clinic and struggle to travel because transport is expensive. We wish the government can give us a mobile clinic so that TB patients and pregnant women get help,” said Mpala.

Government is working on a national health policy whose vision is to ensure primary health care is accessible to all communities although the plan has been in the pipeline for many years.

Health is a critical human right and key to attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.

In the community

VFWT partners with Mvuthu villagers to tackle human-wildlife conflicts

Published

12 months ago

May 17, 2023

Admin

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

The Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust (VFWT) has announced that they have secured funding to work with the communities of the new scheme of herding cattle, amid growing concerns of human-wildlife conflicts in the Mvuthu’s jurisdiction.

This was announced by the VFWT Community Liaison officer Bongani Dlodlo on Tuesday at a village assembly meeting in the Mvuthu area.

He said the scheme aims to reduce the continuous attack of the domestic animals, mainly the cattle by predators such as the lions.

The organisation will actively involved in various environmental issues in the area, including the introduction of mobile bomas years ago, making of chill dung to deter elephants among other rehabilitation projects.

“This will be a programme to run for three years, where we are going to create mobile kraals where the whole village, those who are willing will bring their cattle there and we will hire some willing community members above 22 years of age to look after them during the day and night,” Dlodlo said.

“We are trying to reduce the problem of your livestock getting killed and while under this scheme, we shall ensure that they get treated whenever they present some symptoms of not being well and we will also vaccinate and feed them so that they can increase the value in the market whenever you want to dispose of some of them.”

Dlodlo also added that this will be done throughout the year.

“During the off-cropping season, we will be rotating them from one field to the other so that we also mitigate the issue of poor soils this community is faced with. By this, we hope that even your yield will improve for these coming years.”

Although some at the meeting met with skepticism, Dlodlo insisted that the villagers were not under duress to let go of their cattle and that the preparatory planning and strategies to be adopted were going to be done together with the communities.

Fears were around the issue of religious beliefs around the rearing of livestock.

Other concerns were around the issue of having to walk long distances to milk cows and even having them to perform some day to day chores such as the fetching of firewood.

According to the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers, cases of human-wildlife conflicts have been increasing since 2016 by over 216 percent and Mvuthu villagers have often paid the price without compensation.

Others also queried about what will happen if their livestock gets attacked while with the hired herders and Dlodlo responded: “We will not be paying for any compensation because ours to try and help this community, but because the herders and the place of herding will be chosen by you, we hope that this will be a holistic community project where you can always check on what is happening as we work together.”