B-Metro
Gibson Mhaka
HUNGER is stalking the San community in Mtshina area under Chief Goledema in Ward 10 of Tsholotsho North, Matabeleland North province after a poor maize harvest during the just ended farming season.
Speaking on the sidelines of a media tour in the area which was organised by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), villagers said they lived from hand to mouth.
Mtshina village head Madlela Maphosa said people were in desperate situations due to a food shortage in the area.
Professor Moyo
“We never got a good harvest this year following a poor rainy season in our area. Most homesteads have no grain that will last them the next two months. It’s not looking good at all as some people have started selling their livestock to raise money for food.
“Another problem is that we also do not have adequate draught power to use during cultivation of our lands,” said the village head.
He appealed to the government to assist them with food as a matter of urgency.
“With the situation on the ground we are appealing to the government and donors to assist us with food to enable us to sustain ourselves,” said Madlela.
Another villager Sairos Maphosa (56) said their crops were a total write-off and they were now surviving on wild fruits.
Madlela Maphosa
“We hardly get meaningful rainfall here and we virtually had nothing from last season. Some villagers are already surviving on porridge made from the wild fruits. We are appealing for food aid as a matter of urgency as we might die of hunger,” said Sairos.
Shylet Magwayana (41), a mother of five, also said hunger had reduced them to beggars.
“We failed to harvest this past season because we received little rainfall and we are appealing for urgent assistance to avert the looming disaster.
“We are starving and we implore the government and donors to help us with food aid and we will appreciate the little they can provide, as many of us are not working,” said Magwayana.
