Zimbabwe is facing a worsening food crisis due to El Niño weather patterns, the UN says.
A new report released on Wednesday by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reveals that food insecurity levels in the country are “rapidly deteriorating after it was hit with historic droughts due to the El Niño weather pattern.”
El Niño is a regular and naturally occurring weather event that affects the air temperatures around the sea and coastal landmasses, OCHA says.
This has caused a “storm that destroyed more than half of the country’s harvest, leaving about 7.6 million people at risk of acute hunger,” the report added.
It has also triggered droughts, which have impacted several southern African countries, such as the DRC, Madagascar, and Malawi.
Officials from the UN and the World Food Programme (WFP) have visited Zimbabwe and called for more international support to aid humanitarian responses.
‘Nationwide state of disaster’
In April, local Zimbabwean authorities declared that the country was in a nationwide state of disaster.
Zimbabwean authorities reported that 57 percent of people in “rural” parts of the country are set to be food insecure between January and March 2025, which is usually a peak hunger period in the region.
UN reports indicate that civilians will need to depend on “alternative sources of income, social support, and humanitarian assistance” to withstand this season.
“Humanitarian assistance needs will remain high in many areas of the country until the harvest in 2025 due to poor purchasing capacity resulting from limited income-earning opportunities and high food prices,” OCHA stressed.
El Niño’s impact
“The El Niño-induced droughts have reportedly put a strain on Zimbabwe’s economy, leaving more than a fifth of children out of school and a lack of water supplies in the country,” the UN said.
In May, the UN launched an appeal for $429 million to assist the Zimbabwean government in providing aid to civilians, but it has only gathered 11% of the funds.
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