About the crisis

Zimbabwe has struggled to feed its population in recent years as the result of a series of severe droughts. In 2016 Zimbabwe suffered its driest growing season for 35 years, due to the combination of a poor harvest in preceding years and the El Niño climate pattern.

Continued hot and drier-than-average conditions in Zimbabwe have led to extensive crop failure, leaving a total of 4.3 million people classified as ‘food insecure’. The water situation has become dire for both livestock and humans, with more than a third of households having inadequate water supply for domestic use.

The Dutch Relief Alliance Response

The Zimbabwe Joint Response sees seven DRA member organisation work together to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people in Zimbabwe.

Across 2016 the collaboration inside Zimbabwe saw almost 30,000 vulnerable people receive mobile cash transfers to ensure at least two proper meals per day. In addition, more than 70,000 people had renewed access to sufficient water of appropriate quality through rehabilitation of community water points.

DRA member organisations continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance inside Zimbabwe, supporting some 35,000 people through mobile cash transfers and more than 30,000 children with daily meals at primary schools.