Most Zimbabweans -  about 70 per cent of the population - live in rural areas and are engaged in smallholder agriculture. These smallholder farmers, particularly in the country’s low rainfall areas, are extremely food insecure and have little or no access to new technology.

They suffer from low incomes and a generally low standard of living, poor health and nutrition, poor housing and an inability to send children to school. Soil degradation and outdated farming methods have kept rural families trapped in poverty.

Inadequate and unreliable rainfall and the recurrent threat of drought also restrict the potential of rain-fed agriculture, on which the livelihoods of most smallholder farmers depend. In a word, access to water for irrigation is one of the most critical constraints that small farmers face.

Making matters worse, AIDS is undermining agricultural systems and affecting the nutritional situation and food security of rural families. As adults fall ill and die, families face declining productivity as well as loss of knowledge about indigenous farming methods and loss of assets.

The devastating consequences of the epidemic are plunging already poor rural communities further into destitution as their labour capacity weakens, incomes dwindle and assets become depleted, with the latter affecting mostly women and children who have few property rights.

According to a survey conducted by the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union, agricultural output in communal areas has declined by nearly 50% among households affected by AIDS in relation to households not affected by AIDS. Maize production by smallholder farmers and commercial farms has declined by 61% because of illness and death from AIDS.

Women and girls are especially vulnerable. They face the greatest burden of work - given their traditional responsibilities for growing much of the food and caring for the sick and dying in addition to maintaining heavy workloads related to provisioning and feeding the household. In many hard-hit communities, girls are being withdrawn from school to help lighten the family load.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) describes household food security as “the capacity of households to procure a stable and sustainable basket of adequate food” (IFAD, 1996). It incorporates: (a) food availability; (b) equal access to food; (c) stability of food supplies; and, (e) quality of food. All aspects of this are affected by both the household-level impact of HIV/AIDS and the wider impacts of a generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In households coping with HIV/AIDS, food consumption generally decreases. The household may lack food and the time and the means to grow and prepare some food. For the patient, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS can form a vicious cycle whereby under-nutrition increases the susceptibility to infections and consequently worsens the severity of the disease, which in turn results in a further deterioration of nutritional status.

The onset of AIDS, along with secondary diseases and death, might be delayed in individuals with good nutritional status.

Nutritional care and support may help to prevent the development of nutritional deficiencies, loss of weight and lean body mass, and maintain the patient’s strength, comfort, level of functioning and self-image.

In effect, the nutritional status of HIV/AIDS patients can also help improve the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy, when it does become widely available to poor rural people.

In such a context, labour-saving technologies that will adapt agriculture to new conditions generated by HIV/AIDS can help to compensate for the depletion of labour caused by sickness and death.

Drip-irrigation is a low pressure, low volume irrigation system suitable for vegetables, shrubs, flowers and trees, and can be helpful when water is scarce or expensive.

Already popular in countries such as Israel and India, drip-irrigation has been gaining attention because of its potential to increase yields and decrease water use, fertilizer, and labour requirements, if managed properly.

Drip irrigation (sometimes called trickle irrigation) works by applying water slowly and directly to the soil. It is the slow drop-by-drop, localised application of water at a grid above the soil surface. Water flows from a tank through a filter into lines then drips through emitters into the soil next to the plants. The high efficiency of drip irrigation results from two primary factors. The first is that the water soaks into the soil before it can evaporate or run-off. The second is that the water is only applied where it is needed (at the plant roots), rather than sprayed everywhere as in sprinkle or furrow irrigation systems.

Nutrients can be applied through the drip systems, thus reducing the use of fertilizers. Soil is maintained in a continuously moist condition. With a 100 square meter garden, equipped with low cost drip kit technology, a family of five can grow nutritious vegetables for consumption throughout the year.

This inexpensive kit offers a 50 per cent savings on water, over 80 per cent yields, and better quality vegetables and herbs. Because of its minimal labour requirements, the kit is well suited to serve HIV and AIDS affected households headed by orphans or their grandparents, where labour maybe in short supply.

In Zimbabwe’s rural areas, HNGs are widespread, yet they are largely neglected in spite of their potential to cushion disadvantaged and AIDS-affected families from food insecurity. Ordinarily, a HNG is cultivated close to home, thus eliminating the need for farmers to travel to distant fields.

HNGs can play a significant part in enhancing food security in several ways, most importantly through: 1) direct access to a diversity of nutritionally-rich foods, 2) increased purchasing power from savings on food bills and sales of garden products, 3) availability of food throughout the season and especially during seasonal lean periods, and 4) savings on water, time and labour.

Improving household gardening requires the optimal use of land and irrigation, as well as a dynamic integration of additional crops and crop varieties with specific value and uses. A well developed HNG has the potential, when access to land and water is not a major limitation, to supply most of the non-staple food that a family needs every day of the year, including roots and tuber, vegetables and fruits, legumes, herbs and spices.

Roots and tubers are rich in energy and legumes are important sources of protein, fat, iron and vitamins. Green leafy vegetables and yellow-or orange-colored fruits provide essential vitamins and minerals, particularly folate, and vitamins A, E and C. Vegetables and fruits are a vital component of a healthy diet and should be eaten as part of every meal, and are highly recommended for people living with AIDS

Smallholder farmers generally grow three cycles of crops per year. Typically, this includes at least one cycle of vegetable crops during the winter months, and an early maize or bean crop that can be harvested in December. The exact cropping cycles and systems will depend on regional climate, soils and input availability, in conjunction with the specific skills and nutritional needs of the household.

Farmers are encouraged to grow locally available indigenous crops that are highly nutritive but often neglected. The crops contain good nutrients and often require low labour-input. They represent a flexible source of food supply and can be easily preserved. Besides providing a source of income, they are adapted to cultural dynamics and local food habits.

They produce ample seeds without creating a dependence on external resources. Because the technology is new, smallholder farmers require technical support and training to help them tap into the full potential of the kit.

By strengthening the capacity to produce food at household level using low-cost technologies, negative impacts can be mitigated for AIDS-affected communities. Labour saving technologies and improved seed varieties can help to compensate for the depletion of labour caused by sickness and death, and assist farm-households to survive prolonged crisis, such as that caused by AIDS. Through agriculture and rural development, resilience against HIV can be built.

Drip irrigation technology offers much promise for landholders in the communal areas of Zimbabwe, where water application has traditionally involved the use of surface irrigation and “bucket watering”. Both methods are inefficient and waste a lot of water. Using the bucket involves hard work especially when the water is far away and scarce.

With drip irrigation, communal farmers, especially women, who are the primary carers and pillars of the community, can be able to maintain their gardens with ease, efficiently and at a low cost.

Also, drip technology will give quick returns on a small investment, and growing vegetables will provide both nutrition vegetables and year-round incomes.

As the old Chinese saying goes: “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”

 ‘So arm in arms, with arms, we’ll fight this little struggle’    

On April 18, 1980, Jamaican musical maestro Bob Marley joined millions of Zimbabweans to celebrate a hard-won independence from oppression.  

As part of his tribute he performed the song “Zimbabwe” live in Harare, the capital city. April 18 marked the day on which Zimbabwe’s incumbent leader Robert Mugabe was sworn in as the first prime minister of a people that took over a hundred years to reclaim their freedom from British colonial rule.  

Twenty-eight years later Marley’s words in “Zimbabwe” ring with an amazingly prophetic tone. More than anything they speak to his inspired genius and to his ability to understand humanity.

But greater still, they speak to the struggle of how to build a nation from the ashes of oppression in which every human being must be granted a right to decide their own destiny.  

“Bob’s story is that of an archetype, which is why it continues to have such a powerful and ever-growing resonance: it embodies political repression, metaphysical and artistic insights, gangland warfare and various periods of mystical wilderness,” states the official Marley Web site.

I couldn’t have put it better.  

It was the ability of Marley’s music to tear into the fabric of the sociopolitical establishment of his time that won him so many fans.  

With his words Bob Marley was able to open up new human awakenings and, fused into rhythmic yet soothing Jamaican reggae melody, the power of his words went on to inspire millions of people around the world.  

The fact that Bob Marley penned a song for Zimbabwe can only mean that he had a special regard for the country in his heart.

By the power of his words, he managed to capture the dream of the people of Zimbabwe and project it onto the world map.  

More amazingly his words are so true to the reality in Zimbabwe today. As a Zimbabwean it’s both nostalgic and frightening for me to listen to the words of Marley’s “Zimbabwe.” 

Every man got to decide his own destiny

And in this judgement there is no partiality

So arm in arm with arms we’ll fight this little struggle ‘

‘Cause that’s the only way we can over come our little trouble

Brother you’re right.

You’re right.

You’re so right.

You’re right  

We go fight (We go fight)  

We’ll have to fight (We go fight)

We’re gonna fight (We go fight)

Fight for your rights

Natty dread it in a Zimbabwe

Set it up in Zimbabwe

Mash it up in a Zimbabwe  

Africans a liberate Zimbabwe …

Divide and rule could only tear us apart

In every man chest there beats a heart

So soon we’ll find out who is the real revolutionaries

And I don’t want my people to be tricked by mercenaries 

On the one hand Bob Marley’s song arouses the joyous reminisces of a newly independent Zimbabwe with a promise of a future of hope, development, democracy and opportunity. On the other hand it mirrors the disintegration of the state of Zimbabwe today.  

For me it’s indeed like a surreal paradox. Marley’s song in the current Zimbabwe is no longer a song of liberation but a call to a united front that can confront the dark powers of black-on-black oppression camouflaged in pan-African ideology.

More than just a gifted songwriter and musician, Marley was indeed an inspirational prophet who wanted truth to be told and injustices to stop.  

Ironically Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe has ushered a dispensation that is akin to a silent genocide against his own people.  Marley must be cringing wherever he is living now with the gods of music.

Presently Zimbabwe has come down to devouring its own people because of the selfishness and greed of its political leaders.  

The political leaders care little about the people that they claim to represent. Poverty and suffering have become the order of the day in that beloved nation. All because of the beliefs held by its political leaders.  

The belief that we must revenge the evils of the colonial past has killed the country of Zimbabwe. Belief shows itself in action and, if its root is coated with evil, shows itself with an ugly face.  

Revenge, oppression and hatred are the currencies turning the wheels in the ramshackle state of Zimbabwe. And as a result many people in the country are dying, like donkeys drinking water at a poisoned well.  

Marley asked in one his songs: What happens to a man that kills to save his own belief? That very question is what Zimbabwe’s political leaders need to ask themselves today. The political leaders’ divide-and-rule tactics against the population have made Zimbabwe a laughingstock around the world.  

The nation itself is like a house cracking at its foundation. Not many in Zimbabwe today have a right to choose their own destiny. Partiality and cronyism is what the politicians practice.  Increasingly it is becoming apparent that ordinary people need to join “arm in arms” to fight for freedom; otherwise, there will be no guarantee of a future of promise.

Only a united Zimbabwe can fight the trouble the nation is facing.   But the truth is that the country today lacks true revolutionaries: people who are willing to give up their lives for the cause of freedom, but who will not kill innocent beings for the cause of freedom.  

True revolutionaries who dare to dissent at the risk of having their voices cut off. Mugabe’s government has become like a mercenary against the people. But in every Zimbabwean’s heart, the quest of freedom beats constantly.

It’s probably the only right thing about the country today.  If the people of Zimbabwe can believe more in the sound of that heartbeat, Marley’s song will reverberate again like a joyful sound.

Freedom must free not just the freedom seeker but those around him.  Real revolutionaries, in Marley’s words, are people who do not tolerate any form of injustice or oppression. That message rings true throughout his music, touching the hearts of many freedom fighters around the world.  

And in Zimbabwe, Marley’s words could never sound better as a call to progressive action. 

At Independence from British rule in 1980, the Government of Zimbabwe inherited some of the most serious socio-economic inequalities in the world in terms of income, assets and access to education, housing and healthcare.

The economy then was biased in favor of the white minority. However, despite some war damage, Zimbabwe’s economy at Independence was well diversified between industry, agriculture and services, with excellent infrastructure and apparently good potential for growth. 

Independence brought a crisis of rising expectations requiring the government to immediately address the inherited inequalities. Thus, during the first decade of independence, the government invested heavily into social programs aimed at uplifting the livelihoods of the majority of the people.

But the issue of land ownership was never adequately addressed till early 2000 when government forcibly repossessed land belonging to white farmers. This led to an international outcry and, since year 2000; the country has been in a limbo.  

Today, the resolution of the country’s multifaceted crisis could take a number of different turns and pathways. But the pathway the country travels will be largely determined by the outcome of political developments that are at the heart of the current crisis.  

A key factor defining and sustaining the crisis has been the partisan approach to issues of national significance, which has forestalled productive political dialogue. This has given rise to a barrage of international sanctions - ostensibly targeted at the country’s leadership - that have worsened the plight of ordinary people.  

Zimbabwe can only extricate herself from the current crisis with a political settlement, which brings much needed stability to the country. In the absence of a political settlement, the nation of Zimbabwe will continue down the road of further disintegration and decline.

The decline will adversely affect all sectors of society. There will be an increase in lawlessness, brain drain, corruption, poverty and disease. 

There’s need for a process of national healing in which all outstanding national issues will be brought out in the open without fear or favor.

This route cannot all together be avoided if Zimbabwe is to live up to its true potential. Thus, the question is not whether there will be a transition in the country, but when it will happen. 

However, that transition will be a brainchild of political change and confidence building measures both locally and internationally.

The transition will likely involve initial moderate reforms to get the economy back on track while the political details are being worked out.

There will be a need to both democratize and modernize Zimbabwe’s institutional framework in a way that make it responsive to the needs of its people. Without such reforms, Zimbabwe cannot be effectively and democratically governed. 

To be successful, the process of transition must reflect the hopes and aspirations of the people as well as receive the blessings of the international community.

Zimbabwe must not regard herself as an island in today’s interconnected world. Immediate turnaround should not be expected. There is a danger that such a turnaround can result in superficial changes.  

Even when hopeful signs of recovery begin to appear, the economy would still continue to decline over the short term until the reform process kicks in.

The transition process may be further delayed by the rise of populist demagoguery on the part of political actors who have the most to lose from the way the political space is conducted today.

The transition period could last from six months to more than five years. The more protracted the transition period, the greater will be the degree of polarization and generalized social and political conflict. 

While the transition period will be mainly aimed toward stabilization, the reform era will involve the move towards a more vibrant democratic society and the opening of the politico-economic system, creating new opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs.  

The spirit of entrepreneurship must be deliberately encouraged among the people with emphasis being placed on the provision of quality services or goods that can penetrate the global market.

Entrepreneurial activities must be synonymous with quality, not necessarily of first world standards but, one that is consistent with the Zimbabwean aesthetic sense yet still able to satisfy the global market. 

In other words, Zimbabwean products and services must be locally inspired but globally oriented. If business creation can gather momentum, it will mean good news for the economy.

The government, universities, technical colleges, and business groups must encourage entrepreneurs by offering cheap financing, reducing bureaucracy and instilling confidence that Zimbabwean products can break into the world market if well-produced and well-marketed. 

There’s still a dream and hope in Zimbabwe but it will only be captured through a change in attitude of its leadership characterized by tolerance of diversity and respect for fairness, freedom and justice.

As it is, the world has not yet seen the true Zimbabwe.

In many parts of the world, women who have an unwanted pregnancy often find themselves caught up in an isolated and agonizing situation, left alone to decide whether to have a child that they may not be able to support or have an abortion.  

According to the UN, although abortion is commonly practiced throughout most of the world and has been practiced since long before the beginning of recorded history, it is a subject that arouses passion and controversy. 

In Zimbabwe, as in many sub-Saharan African countries, abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, fetal impairment, or to preserve a woman’s health, is illegal - and if caught, women face jail terms.

As a result, many women resort to clandestine, unsafe and life-threatening abortion methods. Backyard abortions are so rife in Zimbabwe in spite of the laws that prohibit the practice, putting the life of women, particularly young women, at risk.

UNICEF estimates that 70,000 illegal abortions take place in the country every year. In sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of women who end up in hospital after an unsafe abortion are under 20. 

Marie Stopes International reports that the risk of death from unsafe abortion is higher in Africa than any other region: nearly half of global maternal deaths related to abortion occur in the region. 

“Unsafe abortion has the highest impact in developing countries whose citizens lack widespread access to high-quality medical care,” the group reports. 

Given the high rates of HIV infection among women in the region - the majority of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (61% or 13,1 million) are women - governments will have to adopt progressive pro-adoption policies. 

In the absence of Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) methods, there will likely be an increased demand for abortion services. And, thus, there is need to set up abortion clinics and ensure access to safe abortions. 

“Women living with HIV seek abortion care for the same myriad reasons as all other women. Additionally, the same factors that make some women vulnerable to HIV also often increase their need for access to safe abortion services,” says Barbara Crane, Ipas executive vice president for technical leadership and advocacy.  

Having said that, young women - in particular - left with little choice, face immense pressure to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

Traditional and cultural norms highly stigmatize and discriminate against children born out of wedlock further putting pressure on young women who fall pregnant before marriage to opt for abortion - either conducted by untrained persons or self-inflicted. 

Abortions are usually conducted in unregulated and unsanitary conditions and with methods that kill the young women or render them infertile for the rest of their lives.

To put it bluntly, clandestine abortions are a leading cause of maternal mortality in the country. According to a UNICEF report, illegal, self-inflicted abortion methods are thought to include the consumption of detergents, strong tea, alcohol mixes and malaria tablets; other methods include the use of knitting needles, sharpened reeds and hangers. 

The termination of the pregnancy is permitted in circumstances where a pregnancy endangers the life of a woman or where there is a serious risk that if the child to be born would suffer from a physical or mental defect of such a nature as to be severely handicapped. 

In addition, the termination of pregnancy is permitted if the fetus is conceived as a result of unlawful “intercourse,” defined as rape, incest or intercourse with a mentally handicapped woman. 

Given the high rates of maternal mortality attributed to unsafe abortions in the country, there is need for treating abortion as an issue of health and welfare as opposed to one of crime and punishment in order to save women’s lives. 

The fact is that even though abortion is criminalized, young women affected by high levels of poverty and the social undesirability of children born out of wedlock, resort to abortion as a way to manage their lives and livelihoods.  

According to analysts, abortion laws which are traceable to colonial regimes in sub-Saharan Africa need to be reformed in order to safeguard the rights of women. However, removing women’s criminal liability for abortion is only but one part of the solution.

There is need for widespread educational campaigns about contraceptive methods that are available to women. Access to the methods must be made as easy as possible to women who may face social condemnation for using contraceptives within their communities. 

Also, evidence in countries such as Nepal shows that provision of comprehensive care and support and approving clinics where women can have an abortion safely can significantly reduce the number of women that die due to pregnancy-related causes.  

All in all, a liberalized law in Zimbabwe can help to avert the high rates of injury and death among women associated with unsafe abortion.

Around the world, AIDS has robbed many children of parents, families and homes.  In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS has orphaned at least 12.3 million children — and the number is increasing.  

In Zimbabwe alone, a combination of HIV/AIDS and poverty has swept through the lives of nearly 1,6 million or 35 percent of children, leaving many orphaned or vulnerable and without hope for the future.  Because children are voiceless, their story tends to be forgotten.

Yet to ignore the story of the child is to ignore the future.  According to UNICEF, almost one in four children in Zimbabwe are now orphaned by AIDS with more joining this number every month. 

Moreover, a child dies every 15 minutes due to AIDS in the country. 

“An estimated 115,000 children under 14 years of age are infected with HIV in Zimbabwe,” reports UNICEF.

“Each week, 550 children die of an AIDS-related illness and other 565 children become infected with HIV.” 

Only 7 percent of Zimbabwe’s HIV-positive pregnant women have access to drugs that prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.  

Just like support for the orphaned children, life-saving drugs for HIV positive pregnant mothers remain in short supply. 

Children orphaned by HIV are less likely to attend school and are more vulnerable to the sexual abuses that ultimately spreads HIV.  

The country’s macro-economic problems have all but crippled the social services system, compounding the problems that face children. 

Very few of the orphaned children are receiving appropriate counseling and psychosocial support to deal with stigma and discrimination, and many find themselves victims of societal exclusion and neglect.  

Children whose parents are presumed to have died of AIDS are often thought to be HIV positive themselves.

They are stigmatized, excluded from school and denied treatment when they are sick.  If not addressed, the suffering and neglect of children can have catastrophic consequences, not only for the children themselves but also for their communities and the nation as a whole.

Failure to support children to overcome the trauma caused AIDS may result in a dysfunctional society.  

However, the problems facing children are so varied that no single intervention can impact the well-being of the very large numbers of children affected by HIV and AIDS over the extended time scale of the epidemic. 

Currently, the epidemic is causing growing numbers of households headed by either the elderly or children themselves. These people are often stripped of inheritance rights.  

Children, especially girls, are suffering the loss of education because of their increased caretaking responsibilities at home.

The costs of uniforms, textbooks, supplies and exam fees are keeping children out of school, further compounding their exclusion within society.  

Many children today are at risk of hunger and malnutrition, psychological stress, abuse, exploitation and HIV-infection. Making matters worse, they lack access to appropriate health care.

Family and community resources are near breaking point due to the gravity of the orphan problem and are in need of support.  

There’s a need for the international community to invest in the future of orphaned children in Zimbabwe to avoid the worst economic and development scenarios. That investment must addresses one of the key drivers of the epidemic, which is poverty.  

Community based approaches that enable children to be loved, provided for and cared for in families and reduces the number of children who are left without care or are placed in orphanages urgently need to be supported.  

This is a clarion call: may the world not forget the children of Zimbabwe.