Zimbabwe: President Mnangagwa Declares National Disaster as Drought Sweeps Across Southern Africa

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared a national disaster over a drought caused by the climate event known as El Niño.

The president said the country needs $2 billion in aid to help millions of people who are going hungry.

Mnangagwa Declares National Disaster Over Drought

During a press conference, Mnangagwa said that no Zimbabwean must succumb or die from hunger. He continued, "To that end, I do hereby declare a nationwide state of disaster due to the El Niño-induced drought."

Due to poor rains, Mnangagwa warned that over 2.7 million people would not have enough food this year. He claimed this season's grain harvest would bring in just over half of the cereals needed to feed the country.

After emerging in mid-2023, the naturally occurring Niño climate pattern typically elevates global temperatures yearly. It is currently causing record heat and fires around the world.

Zimbabwe is the third country in southern Africa to have declared a national disaster due to drought after Malawi and Zambia. The measure gives the government more access to resources to deal with the situation.

The drought has also impacted electricity production as Zimbabwe heavily relies on hydroelectric power.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the most recent El Niño is among the five greatest on record, and its effects will continue as long as greenhouse gasses continue to trap heat in the atmosphere.

The WMO said that El Niño peaked in December, but almost all land areas should see above-normal temperatures through May.

Furthermore, the Food and Agriculture Organization noted a greater risk of food insecurity because major food-growing areas in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe only received 80% of average rainfall from mid-November to February southern hemisphere summer.

The United Nations reported that January and February saw the least rainfall in 40 years.

Edward Kallon, Zimbabwe's UN resident coordinator, reported that efforts were underway to gather resources and complete a response strategy. Kallon said that this crisis has far-reaching consequences across various sectors.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the drought has forced many people to use contaminated water sources, exacerbating cholera epidemics already plaguing many southern African countries.

El Niño is also expected to increase the danger of malaria and other infections in the upcoming months by bringing heavy rains and flooding.

Game ranger Simba Marozva collects the GPS location of a decomposed elephant that died due to drought in Hwange National Park in Hwange, northern Zimbabwe. The 14,600 square kilometers (5,600 square miles) park is home to more than 450,000 savanna elephants, so many that they are considered a threat to the environment. Blackened corpses scar a landscape where the rains have been more than six weeks late, and scorching temperatures have regularly hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). (Photo: ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP via Getty Images)

Agriculture Expert Reports Zimbabwean Farmers' Struggles

Zimbabwean millers import genetically modified maize from South Africa since they cannot obtain grain from traditional sources in Zambia and Malawi.

However, climate and agriculture specialist Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa said the country also possessed a limited surplus that it might sell to its neighbors.

"Importing maize also means food price increases, which will impact the food security of poor people, who were already struggling to afford healthy diets," he told AFP.

Furthermore, small-scale Zimbabwean farmers in the impacted areas told AFP last month that they were struggling to feed their families due to their crops failing and food prices skyrocketing.