Zimbabwe Declares State Of Disaster With Intense Drought

Cattle herders and farmers in Zimbabwe are bracing for the worst drought in years that sweeps through country causing massive food shortages especially in economically depressed areas.

The severity of the drought adds woes to the country's declining economy plagued by falling incomes and high rate of joblessness. As the situation becomes acute, President Mugabe places the entire country under a state of disaster to facilitate the speedy flow of state food aid to the communities where government help is needed the most.

"Given the foregoing ... His Excellency, the President has declared a state of disaster to severely affected areas in communal and resettlement lands of Zimbabwe effective from Feb. 2, 2016," said local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere as quoted by the Reuters.

According to a report by Quartz, about 2.4 million or a fourth of the country's population badly need food aid as crop harvests failed to yield enough supplies for the locals.

There have been reports of people resorting to barter since there isn't much money to buy essential food commodities in a cash-strapped country that has seen the closure of a number of industries due to burgeoning economic problems in recent times.

"There is not much circulation of cash here so we have to rely on barter trade," remarked Zimaniwa, a villager from Masvingo province in the country's south, who is trading the catfish he caught in a nearby muddy lake for staple food items like corn and rice as mentioned in a report by The Star.

To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, the government allowed international donors to step up its own food aid campaign. Mugabe's administration will also be spending as much as $200 million on importing food- 700, 000 tons of maize to avert wide-scale famine.