By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
HARARE (Worthy News) – Aid workers warned Friday that millions of Christians in Zimbabwe face starvation after the government declared a state of disaster and issued a hunger alert as thousands of malnourished people have already died in the drought-stricken African nation.
Authorities said, “that very low rainfall will lead to 2.7 million people facing food shortages this year.”
The Christian-majority nation faces “Food insecurity. Hunger levels are climbing rapidly in this growing crisis, and thousands have already died,” confirmed Barnabas Aid, a Britain-based Christian charity.
“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 its Africa coordinator.
About 70 percent of Zimbabweans grow their food, and the ongoing “catastrophic drought” hinders their ability to harvest enough to feed their families, Barnabas Aid told Worthy News.
“The situation in Zimbabwe is dire right now. A farmer I spoke to informed me that they won’t even harvest 5 kilograms due to the drought, yet he has a farm of about ten acres. They are very desperate,” explained Barnabas Aid’s 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,” Barnabas Aid stressed.
CHILDREN SUFFERING
“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,” the charity noticed.
Zimbabwe’s food prices are reportedly soaring because harvests have failed, and land used for livestock pasture is deteriorating, leading to further shortages.
Barnabas Aid said it “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.”
However, it added that “the need is still huge” and urged prayers and donations for those suffering in the country of 15.5 million.
Once the bread basket of the region, since 2000, Zimbabwe has struggled to feed its people in part due to severe droughts, observers say.
The effects of a land reform program that saw white-owned farms redistributed to landless Zimbabweans contributed to sharp falls in production, say sources familiar with the situation.
The fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe in 2017 freed up politics and the media, but the country remains cash-strapped and impoverished after years of mismanagement.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has met victims’ families and survivors of Australia’s worst-ever terrorist and antisemitic attack that killed more than a dozen people, amid mounting tensions between the two nations.
Efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza are moving forward according to plan, despite tensions surrounding the ceasefire, a senior official involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative told Ynet in an exclusive report Wednesday.
As diplomatic talks continue between Washington and Tehran, new reports from inside Iran describe intensifying repression and widespread fear among ordinary citizens.
U.S. President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for nearly three hours Wednesday, with both leaders confirming that negotiations with Iran remain ongoing but no final agreement has been reached.
The Pentagon has instructed a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for potential deployment to the Middle East as the United States increases military readiness in response to rising tensions with Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Authorities in the U.S. state of Arizona detained a suspect Tuesday in connection with the reported abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of American television host Savannah Guthrie, as the high-profile investigation entered its ninth day.
Nine people were killed Tuesday in a mass shooting in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, and at least 27 others were injured, authorities confirmed late Tuesday, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Canada in recent years.