By Promise Dube
Drought, a familiar foe, has returned to Insiza District with a vengeance, leaving villagers desperate for water and food.
In a recent meeting held at Vokola Business Centre, villagers gathered to come up with strategies to cope with the El-Nino-induced drought.
One of the resolutions was to scoop mud-filled dams, preparing them to capture any precious rain that might fall.
Ward 7 Councillor Matilda Dube explains, “These dams are silted up. We have no choice but to clean them ourselves and hope for the best.”
The targeted dams include Maputi, Bhinyela, Vokola, Sfinini, Makoshe, Mbaulo, and Mabuze.
Boreholes, their current lifeline, are also dwindling. The few that still have water serve both humans and animals, forcing villagers on long journeys in search of the precious liquid.
Cllr Dube also revealed that some schoolchildren in the district are unable to attend classes due to hunger.
“They faint,” she said. “They simply don’t have the energy to learn when they haven’t eaten.”
Her pleas to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and Social Welfare have fallen on deaf ears. “I spoke to social welfare and GMB trying to source food for the community, unfortunately, there is nothing at the moment,” Cllr Dube said.
She appealed for food donations for learners from ECD to Grade three so they can’t miss out on school.
The El-Nino-induced drought has left over 2 million people food insecure with the government, through the Food Deficit Mitigation Programme in partnership with development partners, providing grain.
According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) report, 26 percent of the rural population will not have enough cereal for consumption and need over 100,000 MT of maize grain during the peak period.
