Agnes Tauzeni stands in her maize field in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where repeated plantings have failed due to prolonged drought. With US-funded food aid abruptly halted, she now fears for her family’s survival
Linda Mujuru, GPJ Zimbabwe
Harare, Zimbabwe – Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.
Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.
‘I am always hungry,’ Tauzeni says. She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.
Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.
Agnes Tauzeni stands in her maize field in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where repeated plantings have failed due to prolonged drought. With US-funded food aid abruptly halted, she now fears for her family’s survival
Linda Mujuru, GPJ Zimbabwe
US foreign aid on hold
The food aid ended when US president Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.
Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024 the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programmes. implemented by (…)
Full article: 669 words.