Zimbabwe Drought Risks Famine and Climate Change Makes It Worse
The country’s economy has been driven to the brink of collapse, and the nationwide drought may be a problem it can’t afford to fix.
Young girls walk home after fetching water in Bulawayo.
Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Trudging home along a dusty street in the Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo, Sikhathele Ndlovu balances a 20-liter (5-gallon) bucket of water on her head, a ritual she’s performed daily for almost a decade. Persistent drought on top of existing faulty piping means there’s little prospect of an end to her back-breaking trek to the communal borehole.
“Nothing comes from the pipes to our homes now,” the 51-year-old widow said during a break on her 20-minute journey through the city’s Cowdray Park township. “Open the tap and not even a drip.”