Zimbabwe

Home Where we work Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe, once regarded as the bread basket of southern Africa, has seen food insecurity and hunger increase, causing many deaths.

In 2022, 3.5 million children in this Christian-majority country were estimated to be chronically hungry. Around 60% of the population are believed to be in “acute food insecurity”.

Stunting and pellagra, conditions caused by malnutrition in children, have become commonplace. In 2022 cases of measles grew rapidly among the young as their nutrient-deficient bodies were less able to fight infection. Mothers lacking food to sustain themselves were unable to produce milk to feed their babies. Children are often too weak to go to school, despite the high value placed on education by most Zimbabweans.

School children with hands up in the air and smiling — In November 2020 Barnabas Aid’s food distribution programme began supplying hungry Christians in Zimbabwe with a special maize-based porridge called ePap. Fortified with vitamins, minerals and protein, ePap quickly restores health to malnourished children and adults. At the time of writing, Barnabas had delivered 229.5 tonnes of ePap in Zimbabwe– that’s 8,757,500 meals

Economic crises, hyperinflation and currency shortages have contributed to the emergency. The situation has been fuelled by successive droughts, Covid-19 and grain shortages caused by the conflict in Ukraine. The latest figures show 49% of Zimbabwe’s population live in extreme poverty.

Prayer

Give thanks for the distribution of ePap in Zimbabwe and for the benefits it has brought to desperately needy Christians. Pray that the Lord will send rain, and for the success of planting and harvesting. Ask that freedom of religion will be sustained and increased, and that Christians will be a powerful witness of Christ’s love in dark and difficult times.