Zimbabwe’s volatile relationship with food security

The discussion of Zimbabwe’s food security is extensive and historically complex, with the nation suffering years of explosive political discrepancies. To gather a holistic understanding of Zimbabwe’s food security, it is crucial to recognise the legacy of colonialism and political instability this created. The radical redistribution of land began in the early1980s via the implementation of the Lancaster Agreement and called an end to the Rhodesian Bush War. The theory behind the land distribution stemmed from years of inequality between white and black farmers in Zimbabwe, with the goal to reorganise the land equally amongst farmers and transfer land ownership back to the majority blacks. However, unsurprisingly, this was not a simple process and unfortunately lead to years of corrupt government control and an intensification of farming on malnourished land, generating a decrease in crop yields. Land reform strategies ranged from market-based including the ‘willing seller-willing buyer’ imperative in the 1980s, to Fast Track Land Reform in the early 2000s which overall left hundreds of thousands displaced. Land cultivation strategies depleted as many farm owners were not specialised in successful and regenerative practices.

Prior to years of conflict, Zimbabwe’s natural land provided a profitable environment for farming and food production, with the country split into five areas ranging from the Eastern Highlands District which due to its high elevation and high average rainfall (above1,000 mm per year) provided perfect conditions for coffee, livestock and tea farms to flourish, to the intensive farming of Harare that gained seasonal summer rainfall to effectively produce the Maize crop. Although there are large variations in climatic conditions across Zimbabwe, the mild subtropical climate and seasonal rainfall allowed for the development of successful farms which helped to stabilise malnutrition across much of Southern Africa.

Maps of land distribution compared to natural regions in Zimbabwe

20 years on from the land distribution plans, Zimbabwe faces a new, arguably more threatening issue – climate change. Unfortunately, the impact of climate change on the agricultural industry is very much real. Edward Chikanga works on Lake Kariba (known to be one of the most prosperous lakes and reservoirs in the world) as a tourist guide and fisherman.

Naturally, he recounts how the lake has seen variations in the water level over the years due to seasonal rainfall patterns and water usage. However, during the long-lasting drought in 2015, exacerbated by El-Nino oscillations, lake levels plunged. The reduced rainfall upstream diminished the flow of rivers feeding Lake Kariba. For Edward and others, this drastically impacted their fishing abilities, reduced water levels meant the fish travelled further out into the lake to deeper water. However, the equipment needed to fish in these deeper waters is expensive and hard to source. Climate change has severely impacted Zimbabwe’s fishing community, with individuals like Edward witnessing the change first hand.

Edward on his boat in Lake Kariba

Furthermore, it is not just the fishing community which has been hit with changes to their production, agricultural farming has too.  After the United Nations World Food Program suggested the number of food insecure Zimbabweans is estimated to have surged to around 60% of the population (8.6 million) at the end of 2020 due to the combined impacts of economic recession deriving from political imbalance, drought and the Covid-19 pandemic, the government implemented the Pfumyudza project. Ultimately, the aim is to climate proof farming techniques on small scale farms to create high yields at a local scale, thus providing household food security.

The government is providing farmers with an initial input package and expects the farmers to plant their crop in time for the expected rainy season and where possible create plots near water sources. As this scheme is on a small-scale basis, farmers are projected to be able to irrigate their crops by hand and meet their household demands, with the rest of their produce contributing to the National Strategic Grain Reserve (stockpile to utilise in future crisis). 

However, the scheme has been criticised as not providing long term solutions, and rather, is irrigation the greater issue? How will these farms maintain themselves during periods of El-Nino when the drought season intensifies? Not only have issues of longevity arisen, but local governments have apparently been distributed packs to only their supporters, with certain community members often excluded. Unfortunately, this impacts women and children who are the most vulnerable during pregnancy and the early stages of life to malnutrition. It seems Zimbabwe has returned to the outstanding issues of political control and inequality which are preventing the nation from meeting demands for a growing population in an ever-changing world.

Finding solutions to both political tensions which still linger and returning to a state of food security is imperative for Zimbabwe. However, unless the government manages to stabilise engrained prejudices and political disputes, food and water security appears a secondary issue.