In the dry, unforgiving plains of Chikombedzi, deep in Zimbabwe’s rural heartland, hunger has taken root like an unrelenting thorn bush.
Here, families abide by a chilling code: “Zero Zero One.” Zero meals in the morning, zero meals in the afternoon, and one meal—if luck prevails—in the evening. This is not a dietary choice or a cultural ritual. It is a grim reflection of how dire the hunger situation has become, a haunting reminder of the nation’s struggle against the forces of climate change and economic instability.
For families like the Mugwena’s, this code is a lifeline, albeit a fragile one. Their evening meal is often nothing more than a thin bowl of sadza—just enough to quiet the gnawing hunger for a few hours. “We used to eat sadza with vegetables or meat,” recalls 34-year-old mother Rejoice Mugwena, “but now, it’s just porridge. Even that we sometimes don’t have enough of.” The inability to find relish—a traditional side dish made of greens, tomatoes, or protein—turns the once-familiar sadza into a bland, empty stomach filler, barely satisfying for growing children.
Her four children leave home for school on most mornings with empty bellies, the pangs of hunger accompanying them as they trek barefoot along dusty paths. The eldest, Tendai, is 12 years old, and in between the distractions of class, he wonders how he will concentrate when the food he so desperately craves never seems to arrive.
The community of Chikombedzi, like many rural areas in Zimbabwe, has been hit hard by a combination of climate-induced droughts and an economic tailspin that has crippled the agricultural sector. The once-fertile fields where maize, sorghum, and millet flourished have now turned barren. Year after year, erratic rains arrive too late, or not at all, rendering the soil infertile and leaving farmers with nothing to harvest.
Zimbabwe’s hunger crisis is a complex web, with climate change and economic instability as its main threads. Years of erratic rainfall, heatwaves, and prolonged droughts have left crops failing at a rate that has outpaced adaptation efforts. According to a 2023 report by the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 5.4 million Zimbabweans are facing severe food insecurity, and nearly half of these are in rural areas where agriculture is the primary livelihood.
“Droughts have become more frequent and intense, and without access to irrigation, small-scale farmers are caught in an endless cycle of crop failure,” explains Dr. Aldridge Matongo, an agricultural economist at the University of Zimbabwe. “And when the crops fail, so do their incomes. The economy, which is already fragile, makes it impossible for them to bounce back.”
In places like Chikombedzi, families do what they can to adapt, but the options are increasingly limited. The traditional coping mechanisms—bartering, selling livestock, or relying on remittances—have all but dried up. Meanwhile, the prices of basic commodities, including maize meal, have soared. For many families, the ‘Zero Zero One’ routine is the only way to stretch their meager resources.
The hunger situation in Zimbabwe has grown so severe that President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently made a public appeal for international assistance. “We are facing a national crisis,” he stated in a televised address earlier this year. “Our people are starving, and we need the world to stand with us. We are calling for donations to help alleviate the suffering in our communities.”
The government has launched a series of initiatives aimed at addressing the crisis, including a push to expand irrigation systems and provide farmers with drought-resistant seeds. Yet, these efforts are a far cry from meeting the immediate needs of millions on the brink of starvation.
Organizations like the Mwenezi Development Training Centre have stepped in to help where they can. “Since 2022, we have been implementing initiatives to strengthen community resilience in Chiredzi by diversifying livelihoods, enhancing poultry production and management, and improving access to markets,” says Chris Lambika, District Coordinator for the Centre. “We’re also improving the saving capacity of smallholder farmers through the promotion of Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLAs). The purpose of VSLAs is to create local revolving savings, credit micro-financing. VSLAs will strengthen on- and off-farm income-generating activities through market-led activities.”
Despite these efforts, the reality for families like the Mugwena’s remains bleak. The sheer magnitude of the crisis means that even small interventions are often too late to prevent widespread suffering.
In Chikombedzi, children continue to go to school without food, unable to focus on their studies or their futures. Farmers walk through fields of shriveled crops, hoping for rain that never comes. The winds carry the dust from dried-out riverbeds, as the sky—clear and cloudless—bears witness to their desperation.
As evening approaches, families gather around small fires, clinging to the one meal they’ll have today. One by one, they quietly eat their sadza, eyes cast downward as they contemplate another day of hunger ahead. For now, ‘Zero Zero One’ is the only routine they know, as they wait for relief that may never come.
Experts agree that long-term solutions to Zimbabwe’s food crisis must focus on both environmental and economic resilience. Expanding access to irrigation, increasing the use of drought-resistant crops, and improving market access for smallholder farmers could provide a buffer against future droughts. At the same time, political stability and stronger governance are crucial to ensuring that any aid reaches those who need it most.
But for the families in Chikombedzi, the future remains uncertain. Until sustainable solutions are implemented, they will continue to rely on their makeshift code of survival: Zero in the morning. Zero in the afternoon. One at night. And hope that tomorrow will bring a little more.
