Zimbabweans Dig Riverbeds In Desperate Search For Water

One of the worst droughts in living memory is sweeping across southern Africa, leaving close to 70 million people without enough food and water.

In Mudzi district in northern Zimbabwe, a community and their livestock are gathered on a bone-dry riverbed. The Vombozi normally flows throughout the year but right now, it is just beige sand as far as the eye can see.

Armed with shovels and buckets, the men are digging into the river floor, desperately trying to extract the last drops of water from it.

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Rivers and dams have dried up in other parts of the district and as a result more and more people are descending on this specific riverbed in Kurima village, putting pressure on the water source.

Along the riverbed are several holes, large enough to fit a single bucket.

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Food is also in short supply in Zimbabwe where 7.7 million people face hunger. In Mudzi the number of families who have access to a sufficient amount of affordable, nutritious food has dropped by more than half compared to previous years, the local health authority says.

Rains failed in most of southern Africa this year, on a continent where most of the agriculture relies on rainfall, rather than irrigation, for water.

The drought has prompted about a third of the countries in southern African to declare a state of disaster. A massive 68 million people across the region need food aid.

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa known for its dramatic landscape and diverse wildlife within parks, reserves and safari areas.

On the Zambezi River, Victoria Falls make a thundering 108m drop into narrow Batoka Gorge, where there’s white-water rafting and bungee-jumping.

Downstream are Matusadona and Mana Pools national parks, home to hippos, rhinos and birdlife.