By Tendai Makaripe
In Pfumbidza village, under Chief Nyashanu in Buhera Central, the landscape tells the story of a harvest season that never came.
By April, when crops are usually harvested, fields that should have been bursting with various crops were barren.
The plants had withered under the unforgiving heat of the El Niño-induced drought resulting in massive crop failure and depletion of water resources and pastures.
El Niño is a regular and naturally occurring weather event affecting air temperatures around the sea and coastal landmasses.
The climate crisis in recent years has led to more frequent and intense patterns.
For the villagers, this has become a crisis of survival with nearly 7.6 million people across Zimbabwe now food insecure.
Among the hardest hit are pregnant women, who find themselves dealing with the compounded effects of hunger, water scarcity, and limited access to healthcare.
“Things are dire this year. Our crops failed,” said villager Edson Mapani.
“We don’t know how we will survive until the next rainy season. Maize is the new gold, and pregnant women are struggling to cope with hunger.”
Pregnant women in Pfumbidza village face an even greater challenge as their nutritional needs increase during pregnancy, yet the drought has left little to sustain them.
Statistics note that 57 percent of people in rural parts of the country are set to be food insecure between January and March 2025 – a peak hunger period there.
Besides the depletion of food reserves, expecting mothers in the village are bearing the brunt of water sources drying up.
As a result, many of them are walking up to three kilometres to Nhika village to fetch water—an exhausting and dangerous task for expectant mothers.
In Hwenjekwenje village in Zviyambe under headman Shumba in Buhera, the situation is the same.
Josephine Magwiroto told this publication that they are also walking 4 kilometres to fetch water.
“We get our water from underground sources in the Mucheke River. It has to be used sparingly but, in the process, diseases are always lurking,” she said.
Member of Parliament for the area Samson Matema said climate change-induced drought which has ravaged his areas has a disproportionate impact on women because of their roles in society.
“Drought has a discriminating impact and carries the face of a woman. It is a threat multiplier because of its impact on their incomes, and the distances they travel in search of water and forest foods,” he said.
“This directly impacts their rights to clean water, health, food and self-determination in extreme circumstances where water may be sold,” he said.
Village head Shadreck Pfumbidza bemoaned the impact of the drought and singled out pregnant women as a highly vulnerable group.
“The drought has worsened our situation. Our borehole is malfunctioning, leaving women including those expecting to walk long distances for water which is a threat to their health,” he said.
“Gardens, which used to supplement our food reserves have also dried up because of water challenges”.
The situation is equally dire in Mbire District, where pregnant women are walking more than 4km to fetch water from boreholes in Kapawa and Muringazuva villages.
Those living far from these villages have resorted to drawing water from shallow underground sources known as mufuku, where they must contend with livestock.
Martha Dondo who is in her sixth month of pregnancy noted that the physical toll these trips for water have on her body is too much.
“Sometimes my feet swell, and the baby’s weight often pulls on my back, making it ache. The dizziness from dehydration hits me hard, and I often feel lightheaded, especially with the sun beating down on me,” she said
She added that the water is not usually clean so she does not drink for fear of getting sick leaving her dehydrated.
These cases reveal a worrying trend that is sadly not given much prominence in discussions around the impacts of this year’s drought.
Maternal health is an important aspect of the health system focusing on women’s health during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
Sadly, this year’s drought is taking a toll on the maternal health of women in rural areas, leaving them vulnerable.
The challenges of water access for pregnant women in Mbire and Buhera Central are not unique to those areas but are prevalent in many rural settings across the country.
Analysts note that for pregnant women, access to clean water is crucial.
“Dehydration during pregnancy can lead to complications such as preterm labour and low birth weight, both of which can endanger the life of both the mother and the child,” said medical doctor Benedict Gudu.
“Clean water is also crucial in preventing infections. Unsafe water can harbour bacteria and parasites that cause waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, and dysentery. These infections are dangerous for pregnant women, who are more vulnerable to complications that can result in severe dehydration or, in worst cases, miscarriage,” he added.
United Kingdom-based trauma healing facilitator and birth educator Joyce Dube said during pregnancy, water is needed for building and maintaining foetal growth, development and metabolic activity.
“For a foetus to develop and grow adequately, the mother must normally drink more water than she did before becoming pregnant. Water is needed during pregnancy to support foetal growth, development and metabolic activity,” she said.
“A water imbalance is even a strong predictor of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, low birth weight and poor pregnancy outcomes.”
While Section 77 of the Constitution provides that: “Every person has the right to safe, clean, and potable water and that the government is obligated to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within the limits of available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right, the situation is dire in rural areas.
Research in several rural areas revealed that water is a problem in many health centres yet water enables health workers to maintain hygiene standards, such as handwashing and sterilising medical equipment, safeguarding both the mother and newborn from preventable diseases.
“Unfortunately, low water tables have made it difficult for health institutions here to access water,” said Mapani.
Such situations are likely to increase the country’s maternal mortality rate which has been on a downward trend from 651 deaths per 100,000 live births to 462 in 2019, and 362 in 2022.
“Though there has been a notable decline, the maternal mortality rate falls below the government of Zimbabwe’s target of 314,” said the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) in its 2023 annual report for Zimbabwe.
“Institutional maternal mortality rate was 114 per 100,000 life births in 2023 compared to 107 in 2022, noting a concerning increase. This also falls short of the target of 73 per 100,000 set by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC).”
Besides water challenges, drought is also associated with
extreme heat exposure which experts say is linked with adverse outcomes in pregnancy, impacting maternal, neonatal and child health for a lifetime.
In hot climates, pregnant women face an increased risk of premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, congenital anomalies and pre-eclampsia.
“Prolonged labour is common in dehydrated women, often requiring emergency C-sections to save lives. New-borns of dehydrated mothers are nearly certain to arrive sickly, dehydrated and underweight or some dying in the womb or shortly after birth,” said Dube.
Additionally, the El Niño-induced drought has severely impacted food availability in rural Zimbabwe, leading to undernutrition among several pregnant rural women.
Adequate nutrition is essential for both the mother and the developing foetus, but the drought has decimated crops and food reserves, leaving expectant mothers struggling to meet their increased nutritional needs.
Twenty-nine-year-old Tracy Charambira from Zibute village under chief Nyashanu in Buhera said she eats an average of a single meal a day.
“Maize is being sold for US$8 so I cannot afford to eat many meals. I battle with hunger daily, often feeling very weak and powerless but there is nothing I can do,” she said.
Research has shown that without sufficient food, these women are at greater risk of complications such as anaemia, weakened immune systems, and overall poor health, which can lead to serious conditions like sepsis.
The 2024 Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC) Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report noted a decrease in acceptable food consumption from 70 percent in 2023 to 50 percent in 2024, while the proportion of households consuming poor diets increased from 5 percent in 2023 to 10 percent.
“The proportion of households with poor food consumption increased in most districts in 2024 compared to 2023. Gutu and Mbire (39 percent), Kariba (36 percent), and Rushinga (35 percent) had the highest proportion of households with poor food consumption patterns, while Chirumhanzu (zero percent) and Marondera, Mazowe, and Seke (one percent) had the least,” read the ZimLAC report.
This spells doom for expecting mothers.
However, the government, through various agencies, has been trying to provide food aid to people in these areas but the food is inadequate to sustain people till the next farming season, compounding the woes of poor expecting mothers.
More needs to be done to ensure that expecting mothers have everything they need to prepare for labour.
Contacted for comment on recommendations that can be adopted for strengthening maternal healthcare systems in climate-vulnerable regions in rural Zimbabwe, UNFPA’s Innovation, Communication and Visibility Specialist, Bertha Shoko noted that: “The programme team feels that the Health Ministry is better placed to respond”
A senior official in the Ministry who requested anonymity said: “Government is planning to increase mobile health services to reach remote areas, prioritising the provision of clean water to health facilities, and enhancing food aid distribution for expectant mothers to reduce malnutrition.”
Access to clean water through the rehabilitation of boreholes and the introduction of solar-powered water pumps would reduce the distances expectant mothers walk for water.
Governance analyst Jethro Makumbe said strengthening food aid programs tailored to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant women, such as distributing fortified foods, is crucial.
“Additionally, increasing mobile healthcare services and maternal health outreach programs in remote areas would provide necessary prenatal care and reduce the risk of complications from dehydration and malnutrition,” he said.
Expanding these efforts through NGO partnerships can help bolster government efforts to provide sustainable, long-term solutions.
Ultimately, the well-being of pregnant women against the harsh realities of climate change rests not only in survival strategies but in proactive, community-centred initiatives that safeguard both mother and child.
If we want to save lives, we must invest in solutions that nurture them.
