Southern and Eastern Africa

Zimbabwe

A boy carrying a tyre in Zimbabwe
Chipinge, in Southeastern Zimbabwe, is one of the hardest hit areas by food insecurity in Zimbabwe. OCHA/Jayne Tinashe Mache

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, faces high risks from the global climate crisis, exacerbated by aged infrastructure. Droughts frequently occur, with only 37 per cent of the country receiving sufficient rainfall for agriculture. Extreme poverty is on the rise, affecting 50 per cent of the population (8 million people) in 2020, up from 42 percent (6.6 million people) in 2019. The country's prolonged economic recession has further strained livelihoods. Zimbabwe's humanitarian context is fragile, with multiple shocks, including the pandemic, drought, crop failures, high inflation and poverty. These challenges deepen poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition and unsafe food consumption, particularly impacting low-income households and women in the informal sector.