NELSON Ncube* aged 12 staggers in over-sized black gumboots driving a herd of cattle to the dip tank in Mashure resettlement area in West Nicholson on a drizzling Wednesday morning.
ALBERT NCUBE OWN CORRESPONDENT
Nelson dropped out of school in June this year as he could no longer cope with walking long distances to and from school on an empty stomach and joined his father in helping herd cattle at the nearby farm.
He is among about 3 000 schoolchildren in five districts in Matabeleland South province that have reportedly dropped out of school mainly due to hunger.
Other children have dropped out of school because of economic hardships while some girls have been forced to abandon school after falling pregnant.
Statistics released by the Education ministry last week showed that the drought-ravaged Gwanda district has the highest number of school dropouts with 1 130.
Of this, 455 dropped out of primary schools while 675 from secondary schools.
From these statistics, 638 are boys, who like Nelson have taken up jobs as herdboys while the daring ones have turned to gold panning to eke out a living.
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Some girls have entered into early marriages, taken up jobs as housemaids in urban areas, help in household chores or have taken to prostitution in an attempt to survive the widespread hunger in the district.
Senior village head in Gwaranyemba’s Ward 13, Mkhubo Ndlovu, says the long distances children walk to school had forced most of them to abandon their studies because they did not have the energy to walk long distances without having eaten anything.
“Our schools are far apart and some pupils walk up to 30km on a daily basis to and from school, especially those from Nkulangugwe and Switsha village, to attend school here at Gwaranyemba Secondary School. But now because of the hunger situation, most of them stay at home because they do not have the energy to walk to school,” Ndlovu said.
“We have not been able to harvest anything in the past five years and I would like to urge the government to urgently intervene by assisting schoolchildren with food. Maybe if they are fed at school they could be encouraged to attend,” he said.
Non-governmental organisations that used to feed schoolchildren in rural schools in the past have since left after being accused of meddling in the country’s internal politics.
Hleziphi Ndlovu (70) of Gwaranyemba, who looks after her 93-year-old disabled and partially blind husband on Thursday said her two orphaned grandchildren aged nine and 11 had also dropped out of school because of hunger.
“We have nothing to eat,” Ndlovu said. “These children are not going to school because they have nothing to eat. We have been relying heavily on the community for food handouts, but some of them are now getting fed up because we ask on a daily basis,” he said.
“We will soon die of hunger if the government does not assist us with food. We do not have any livestock to sell and our hope is that the maize they have been promising us comes sooner,” he added.
However, the Grain Marketing Board provincial depot in Gwanda is virtually empty as there have been no maize deliveries lately despite repeated assurances by the government that no one will starve.
The government had been importing maize from Zambia on credit, but the neighbouring country has reportedly halted deliveries demanding cash upfront.
Zimbabwe was once Africa’s breadbasket and used to produce surplus maize in the 1980s, but has now been reduced to being virtually a basket case and heavily relies on importing grain after the chaotic land reforms which started in 2000 displaced mainly white commercial farmers disturbing agricultural activities.
The Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation ministry has conceded that Zimbabweans have been reduced to beggars and said the solution to the food crisis ravaging the country lies in reviving irrigation schemes.
*not real name*
