from DANAI MWARUMBWA in Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Bureau
HARARE, (CAJ News) – SOUTHERN Africa is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis, fuelled by a toxic combination of climate-induced shocks, disease outbreaks, economic collapse, and persistent conflict — with Zimbabwe emerging as one of the epicentres of suffering.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly 27 million people across the region are currently food insecure — making this one of the worst crises in recent memory.
Agricultural production has dropped significantly in several countries due to prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall, worsened by the lingering effects of the 2024 El Niño weather pattern.
Simultaneously, skyrocketing food prices have eroded household purchasing power, plunging millions into hunger.
The hardest-hit areas include western Angola, southern Madagascar, southern Malawi, southern and central Mozambique, and much of rural Zimbabwe.
These regions have experienced failed harvests, fragile economies, and inadequate infrastructure to cope with the mounting needs.
“Malnutrition has worsened amid deepening food insecurity and recurrent shocks,” OCHA stated. Rates of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) are climbing rapidly, particularly in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Adding to the misery is the resurgence of cholera, which had been largely under control in early 2025 but is now spreading across multiple borders.
Health systems remain overwhelmed as outbreaks expand in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with further pressure from m-pox, malaria, and waterborne diseases.
In northern Mozambique, renewed insurgent violence between July and September has displaced tens of thousands, compounding the regional emergency. Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies are struggling to scale up relief operations due to widening funding gaps.
While OCHA remains cautiously optimistic that above-average rainfall forecast for October to December could help revitalize agricultural livelihoods, the scale of need continues to dwarf available resources.
ZANU-PF’s Role in Zimbabwe’s Collapse
Zimbabwe’s crisis is particularly acute, driven not only by climatic shocks but by decades of economic mismanagement, corruption, and authoritarian governance under the ruling ZANU-PF party.
Once known as the breadbasket of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe has seen its economy systematically destroyed through land seizures, currency collapses, and state capture that has enriched a political elite while ordinary citizens suffer.
ZANU-PF’s controversial land reform programme in the early 2000s, which involved the violent seizure of commercial farms, triggered the collapse of agricultural production and investor confidence.
Since then, state institutions have been hollowed out, and public funds have been plundered through corruption, looting of mineral resources, and opaque deals — leaving essential services such as healthcare and education in tatters.
Billions in public funds have reportedly vanished through mismanagement of mining revenues, particularly in diamond-rich regions like Marange, while ordinary Zimbabweans face unemployment rates exceeding 80% and hyperinflation that has wiped out savings.
This legacy of governance failure has not only crippled Zimbabwe’s economy but has also strained neighboring countries, as millions have fled into South Africa, Botswana, and beyond in search of stability.
As the region braces for worsening conditions, the need for coordinated humanitarian aid, good governance, and climate resilience has never been more urgent.
— CAJ News