Zimbabwe, half of the harvest is destroyed and millions are now at risk of starvation

ROMA – More than half of Zimbabwe’s crop has been destroyed due to a “historic” drought, according to an article by Tommaso Meo on Blackness – and some 7.6 million people in the country are now at risk of acute hunger, according to theUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha). Tommaso Meo also writes: The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and coordinator of the climate crisis Reena Ghelani and the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme Valerie Guarnieri recently concluded a week-long mission to assess the impact of El Niño-induced drought in the country and called for increased international support for the humanitarian response.

The state of national calamity. Zimbabwe authorities declared a national state of disaster in April, the article continues. Blackness – and according to the latest figures, at least 57 percent of rural residents, or some 5.9 million people, will be food insecure during the peak hunger period between January and March next year. Drought has severely strained Zimbabwe’s economy, with more than a fifth of school-age children now out of school, and led to severe water shortages. The UN’s appeal in May for $429 million to assist more than 3 million people is only about 11 percent funded.