Weak Agriculture Finance Feeds Malnutrition in Zimbabwe

By Ignatius BandaBULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Dec 15 2015 (IPS)Successive poor harvests have diminished Ndodana Makhalima’s household food stocks and the family’s nutrition status.

A subsistence farmer in Lupane, about 110 kilometres north of Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo, 56 year-old Makhalima has learnt to live with hunger on his door step. Farmers will have limited access to climate smart agricultural knowledge and skills as cash strapped Zimbabwe cuts technical assistance from agricultural extension officers. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS“In the past I could eat umxhanxa (a mix of maize and melon) and inkobe (a mix of maize, cow peas, and groundnuts) throughout the year, but not anymore,” Makhalima said.“My silo is empty and my family has nothing to eat. I think today’s children will never know the kind of body-building foods we ate when I was young,” he said, highlighting the extent of compromised household
nutrition across rural Zimbabwe.The country’s rural-based subsistence farmers are facing a myriad of challenges with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) warning of another drought during the 2015/16 season, which could further compromise already dire nutritional needs in a country where the UN World Food Programme (WFP) says millions will require food assistance.But it is the financing of the sector, once a major contributor to the country’s GDP, that has further dwindled hopes for relief for Makhalima an...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Editors' Choice Education Featured Food & Agriculture Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Bulawayo Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) farm Source Type: news