ZIMBABWE FACING MAN-MADE STARVATION - UN EXPERT

An estimated 45 million people are threatened with hunger due to a severe drought that is strangling wide stretches of southern Africa.

By Nyawira Mwangi

Zimbabwe is on the brink of man-made starvation and the number of people in need of food security is shocking for a country not in conflict, Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said on Thursday.

According to Elver, she found stunted and underweight children, mothers who were too hungry to breastfeed their babies and medicine that was in shortage in hospitals while she was on a 10-day visit to the economically shattered country.

The southern African nation is among the most food insecure states in the world and this food crisis has the potential to spark fighting in the country, she continued to say.

“I urgently call on the government, all political parties and the international community to come together to put an end to this spiraling crisis before it morphs into a full-blown conflict,” Elver said.

Consequences associated with the crisis such as school dropouts, early marriage, domestic violence, prostitution and sexual exploitation are on the rise.

The expert blames widespread corruption, mismanagement, natural disasters, droughts and sanctions for the crisis.

Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic difficulties in more than a decade with more than 60% of the population of 16 million is now considered food insecure.

According to figures by U.N agencies and the government, there are about 5.5 million people in rural areas facing food insecurity while in urban areas, they are about 2.2 million people lacking access to basic public services including health and safe water, at the same time electricity is cut up to 19 hours a day.

“These are shocking figures and the crisis continues to worsen. Where food items are available most people have no money to buy,” Elver said.

The administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has struggled to fulfill promises of prosperity, has been blamed by critics.

Mnangagwa blames recurrent droughts and sanctions imposed by the United States for the crisis.

The U.S. says the sanctions target entities and individuals, including Mnangagwa, over rights abuses, not the country at large.