“If the drought continues and crops fail this year, it will take Zimbabwe years to recover, and many of our brothers and sisters will suffer,” said our Africa coordinator this week.
Zimbabwe declared a state of disaster and issued a hunger alert on 3 April, saying that very low rainfall will lead to 2.7 million people facing food shortages this year.
About 70% of Zimbabweans grow their own food, and the ongoing catastrophic drought hinders their ability to harvest enough to feed their families. “The situation in Zimbabwe is dire right now. A farmer I was speaking to informed me that they won’t even harvest 5kgs due to the drought, yet he has a farm of about ten acres. They are very desperate,” said our project partner. Compared to the several thousand kilos of maize that a farmer can usually harvest from an acre of land, the shortfall is shocking.
Food insecurity and hunger levels are climbing rapidly in this growing crisis, and thousands have already died. Children go to school hungry and cannot concentrate because of malnutrition. Some are even too weak to attend at all. People are being forced to use unsafe water, which contributes to cholera outbreaks. Food prices are soaring because harvests have failed, and land used for livestock pasture is deteriorating, leading to further shortages.
Barnabas stands ready to help our Christian family in this time of great need. We have recently sent 23.5 tonnes of lentils from our supporters in Australia to Zimbabwe, which will provide approximately 470,000 servings to hungry Christians.
But the need is still huge.
Can you help us send food to our suffering brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe?
How You Can Help
Zimbabwe is a Christian-majority nation. Please prayerfully consider if you can give anything to this urgent need. Anything you can give will help provide food for our Christian family in Zimbabwe.
$5.50 could provide 2 litres of cooking oil
$12 could provide enough corn soya blend, a source of vitamins and protein, for a Christian family for up to a week
$18 could provide enough maize meal to feed a family for two weeks
$25 could provide enough sugar beans to feed a family for three weeks
