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The effects of Cyclone Idai, which swept through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in March 2019, were still being felt a year later. Idai destroyed crops, ruined lives and left millions without food.
In the immediate aftermath, at least 900 people were killed. Around 2.5 million more – especially those in remote areas – were affected. Our local partners in Zimbabwe and Malawi were able to support them with the emergency food, water, clothing, shelter and medicine supplies they desperately needed.
One year on, communities in Zimbabwe were still struggling. They faced a grave hunger crisis as crop failures, drought and food shortages continued.
Working with our local partners, we've been able to help Idai survivors start to rebuild their lives.
Please donate to the Cyclone Idai Appeal so we can continue to be there for those in need.
Christian Aid’s response: 1-year update (March 2020)
One year since Idai, more help is needed as the drought and food shortages continue.
How your donations have helped
With your generous donations, our local partners were on the ground immediately in Zimbabwe to support affected communities with essential supplies:
- foodstuffs such as maize meal, sugar, dried fish, cooking oil, salt and tea leaves
- household essentials, from cooking utensils to water storage containers and blankets
- toiletries and sundries such as soap, toothbrushes, towels, laundry powder and washing buckets
Alongside this essential support, there have been awareness-raising activities on topics such as climate change, hygiene, disaster preparedness, accountability, safeguarding and protection issues.
The rebuilding continues, but more needs to be done
Work also continues with rebuilding infrastructure and livelihoods, providing agricultural resources and offering psychosocial support. For example: in December 2019, we and our partners MeDRA and Africa Ahead gave 147 new homes to Idai survivors in Zimbabwe’s Chipinge, Buhera and Bikita districts.
All this has helped to ensure families have somewhere safe to live and to start rebuilding their lives.
However, Zimbabwe – and the Southern African region – faces a major hunger crisis.
‘The people of Zimbabwe are struggling’
For the country once known as ‘the bread basket of Africa’, the worst drought in four decades is looming. Many lost their crops and livestock to Idai, with no second planting season on the horizon.
Now heavily reliant on rain-fed agriculture, communities are experiencing repeated failed crops and millions of people left hungry as the country’s vital grain reserves have been wiped out. Nearly 1 in 3 children under five are suffering from malnutrition.
Our Zimbabwe Country Director, Nicholas Shamano, said: ‘The people of Zimbabwe are struggling to find enough to eat, and while climate change and more extreme, and frequent, weather conditions have contributed to high levels of food insecurity, failing infrastructure continues to hinder the nation’s recovery.’
With Zimbabwe now relying on grain imports, and long in need of investment in agriculture, its communities are still in need of humanitarian support in Idai’s long-term wake.
With the help of local and national authorities, much-needed practical support – especially food – is essential for the continued recovery of the affected communities.
Selena Feleeski
The sun was about to set when Selena noticed water coming into her house. And then more water, and then more. She fled with her family to a nearby school and watched as the floods destroyed almost everything she owned.
Thanks to Christian Aid’s emergency response work, Selena received some maize seeds and money to help rebuild her home in the immediate aftermath of the flooding.
Selena knows how important education is, because it’s the opportunity she never had. Orphaned at five years old, she was raised by an uncle until he too died. She had few options left to her. She got married very young and now lives with her husband and six children.
‘I just want the children to have a different life from what I had. My hope for the future is that if they go to school, they will be better off.’
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Margaret Nsona
Before Christian Aid’s partner PROACT came to support her community, Margaret was living a life without hope. But the training she’s received from them has helped her improve the way she farms and enabled her to start a small business. Now she’s bringing in enough money that she can even send her children to school. She says it has empowered her life.
When Cyclone Idai hit, Margaret lost all the crops she had planted, along with many of her possessions. But because of the support she had previously received, she was able to get back on her feet again more quickly. She says, ‘We were trained to be courageous enough not to be shaken by the floods, but to move on and be strong’.
The rains are no longer consistent, and the area she lives in is often hit by both drought and flooding. Now she’s able to practice crop rotation and to diversify what she grows so that she is more resilient to climate change.
‘I’m a witness, climate has changed. Nowadays it’s not the way it used to be when we were children.’
Looking for press information?
Contact Paul Donohoe, Head of Media and Communications.
Email pdonohoe@christian-aid.org or telephone 01 496 7040 (office) or +44 (0) 7779624385 (mobile).