Zimbabwe has been experiencing a number of problems in recent years. This is due to both man-made and natural causes leading to human suffering and at times death. The major problems can be traced back to the rejection of a government sponsored constitutional reform that was followed by “fast track” land reform as the government blamed commercial farmers for its demise.

Finger pointing, chaos, violence, and destabilization of the political and socio-economic environment followed this process. Civic society and the international community responded by putting pressure on the government to respect the rule of law, central to the Abuja agreement brokered by Nigeria and South Africa. To worsen matters, Zimbabwe experienced a serious drought in the 2001/02 agricultural season.

The combined effect of the above mentioned problems resulted in, predictably, serious problems of food shortages, unemployment of over 70 %, high inflation of over 525,8 %, increased poverty of over 80 % of the population living below the poverty line and lack of foreign currency.

The most affected by this crisis have been the poor, especially in rural communities. Their only means of livelihood is subsistence agriculture. Hence, the drought dealt a big blow to their welfare since they now have to rely on a very imperfect and unreliable market for supply of food and other basic commodities. Food inflation continues to rise despite the Government's efforts to arrest it with price controls and price freezes. This, obviously, has serious gender implications. Women, children, the disabled, terminally ill and the elderly have to bear the biggest burden. In rural Zimbabwe a lot of households are female headed as the husbands are employed in urban areas. This means the mothers have to fight a lone battle in providing for the family and the father is not available to fend for the day-to-day needs of the family.

Some traditions and customs in the Zimbabwean culture expose children, particularly girls, to abuses. For example, practices like kuzvarira, which literally means swapping the girl child for food to save a starving family, condemns the girl to perpetual suffering. She is forced to marry early and is therefore denied a chance to prepare for her future through attending school. The marriage is often to a very old husband – not of her choice – and it is mostly polygamous, making life a living hell for the young girl. Those who don't find themselves in this predicament may still suffer in different ways. Some are forced to drop out of school as resources run dry in the family. Child labour is rampant in the country and is actually rising due to food shortages.

Some women and girls walk into loveless, unplanned marriages due to desperation. Their aim is to escape starvation but, unfortunately, they expose themselves to abuses by their husbands who can take advantage of their desperation at will. Prostitution becomes another option for others who fail to make ends meet. Hunger knows neither limits nor dignity and induces reckless and dangerous behaviour.

The forced marriages and prostitution put women in danger of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), or worse still HIV/AIDS. This partly explains why HIV/AIDS cases have been on the increase in the country. In fact, the district hospital in Insiza district reported an increase in cases of STDs and HIV/AIDS related aliments amongst girls as young as 12 years old. More and more people are going to die due to food shortages as rational behaviour has been suspended. Desperation is now leading them to take dangerous or risky decisions.

Unscrupulous business people have been quick to take advantage of the suffering people, making matters even worse. The writers of this report witnessed a pathetic situation in rural Zimbabwe (Chiendambuya in Makoni district) where a miller approved to mill and sell maize meal at controlled prices by the Grain marketing Board was selling the product at nearly double the price. Not only was he overcharging, but was selling off his truck in the bush. The people - estimated to be 90 % women - had to wrestle for the scarce commodity and each time the driver thought the situation was getting out of hand he would drive away for a distance of about a kilometre.

The poor villagers - comprised of the elderly, the disabled, pregnant, sick and those carrying babies - would race each other to the truck where they would buy on a “first come first serve” basis. It was a sorry sight to see people undertake such a physically demanding exercise. This is a typical survival of the fittest scenario where vulnerable groups like women are obvious losers. The few who are young and energetic outrun the vulnerable, thus buying most of the food, since they were able to catch up with the lorry and join the queue more than once.

Each day, mostly women and children are seen in queues as early as 4am at retail and wholesale outlets in anticipation of deliveries which usually do not come. Often they go back home empty handed, depressed and dejected, yet continue to hold hope that one day Zimbabwe will be back on track as the food basket for Southern Africa.

Zimbabweans can no longer afford to buy basic food stuffs in the shops as the rate of inflation has continued to escalate with the latest figure rising by 70,2% from 455,6% in September to 525,8 percent in October 2003. (The Herald of November 20 2003). To overcome these hardships, people are engaging in illegal activities. Some are selling gold on the black market and illegally exporting it to neighbouring countries. Others are doing fuel deals and some have joined the money lending business where the poor are being exploited with interest rates in the range of 30 – 80% per month. Also the banks have significantly increased their borrowing rates, which range from 129 to 169% per annum. Therefore this will mean that the rich will be the richest and the poor will be the poorest. It is the hope of every Zimbabwean that the National budget to be tabled in Parliament today – November 20 2003, will come up with favourable solutions to revive the economy.

* The author, who lives and works in Zimbabwe, did not want her real name used for political reasons.

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