"I do not want to talk about politics," said Florence Munyaradzi, a peasant farmer from the southeastern village of Gutu.
"Things used to be fine. Now we depend on donor organisations for food,
farming inputs and everything," the 37-year-old mother said blankly.
Like the majority of Zimbabwean rural poor, her husband is unemployed
and the family depends on rations of the staple corn meal, cooking oil,
beans and salt to survive.
Years of hardship have made the gaunt mother reluctant to talk about
politics, to the point she is not aware that Morgan Tsvangirai is now
the new prime minister  and his promises to change the lives of the
people.
Her children face a bleak future as they spend most of their time
herding cattle or performing household chores instead of going to
school.
Schools in the district remain closed as teachers demand salaries in
foreign currency to cushion them against runaway inflation which has
rendered the local currency worthless.
According to aid organisations, the rural poor had been the hardest hit by the political and economical situation.
"We call upon the government to channel resources towards fighting
malaria and avoid the development of another outbreak, while we are
still struggling to contain cholera and feed the people," said Oxfam
district administrator, Makepeace Mzenda.
Harare blames the shortfall on drought, but critics put much of the blame on its agricultural policy begun eight years ago.
Often violent land reforms saw the seizures of at least 4000 properties
formerly run by white farmers for redistribution to landless blacks,
the majority of whom lacked the skills and means to farm.
In Mazuru, a semi-arid area 290 kilometres southeast of the capital
Harare, villagers depend on farming crops that require little rain like
groundnuts and sorghum  which are exchanged for maize at harvest time.
However, this year’s farming season was the bleakest as people could not afford to buy or access inputs for crops.
"We have two dams here … I hope one day we will be able to have a big
irrigation scheme which will provide employment for us," said Thomas
Chirambamuriwo.
"We are tired of living off handouts," the barefoot unemployed youth told AFP.
In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, Tsvangirai promised additional
emergency food distribution and an end to distribution according to
political lines.
"The transitional government will make food more available and more
affordable by removing all duties on foodstuffs imported into the
country," said Tsvangirai.
"In the short term, we will convene a food summit of all relevant stake
holders to help us ensure that no Zimbabwean goes hungry," he added.
Buying food has become a luxury only a few can afford  with inflation last estimated in July at 231-million percent. – iafrica.com
Post published in: News