More than 60 percent of the population in Zimbabwe's western region of Hwange require food relief.

WFP's Richard Lee visited the district of Chidobe and found that the near collapse of the tourist trade in nearby Victoria Falls has worsened the crisis.

Chidobe, Sept 2- Shading her youngest daughter from the glare of the bright winter sun, Silendeni Mpala waits patiently for the food aid truck to arrive.

Gathered around her are hundreds of other men and women from villages across the district. They have all trekked for miles through the dusty bush to reach Chidobe primary school, where they will receive their monthly ration of relief food.

"We did not harvest any maize at all this year because of the drought," Mpala said.

"Luckily, we still have a few pumpkins left but they will run out in the next few weeks and then we will have absolutely nothing to eat except for the food that we are given."

"What can I do? There is no food, no work. Nothing! Even with this maize my family will be hungry. Without it, we would die."
Silendeni Mpala, mother of eight

Silendeni lives in the nearby village of Chidobe 3 and has a family of eight to feed, including her sick husband.

Unable to lay her hands on any other source of food or on any way of making money, Silendeni admits that her family's future is now utterly dependent on food aid.

"What can I do? There is no food, no work. Nothing!" she said. "Even with this maize my family will be hungry. Without it, we would die."

Nearby 65-year old Maggie Khumalo shakes her head - not in disagreement or disbelief but in despair. She has lived in this part of southwestern Zimbabwe all her life and cannot believe how desperate the situation has already become.

"This is the worst it has ever been," Khumalo said. "Very few people harvested anything at all and most of that is now finished. And even the maize we are given is only enough for one meal a day. And this month it ran out early. For the last two days, my four grandchildren and I have had nothing to eat but pumpkins."

ENERGY SAVING

A short while later, a truck laden with maize provided by WFP pulls in through the school gates.

A few women dance briefly in celebration but the rest sit still, saving their energy for the walk home. And it is not just the adults who are forced to marshal their strength.

The 328 children at Chidobe primary school have also had many of their afternoon activities scaled back.

"We had to stop some of our core curriculum activities like soccer and netball because the children don't have the energy," said the school's headmaster, Reason Ncube. "They need all their strength for classes and for the walk home after school."

DAILY DOSE

Fortunately, Chidobe primary school is covered by a supplementary feeding programme, which is run by a local non-government organisation (NGO), the Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP), and funded by the British government.

Every day, the children receive a litre of a nutritious drink known locally as Mahewu. It was only intended to provide some additional nutrition and an extra incentive to stay in school, but their daily dose of Mahewu has now become the main meal for many of the children of Chidobe.

And when supplies run out, the effect is immediately apparent.

"When there is no Mahewu, the children stop being able to concentrate in class, while some of them stop coming to school altogether," explained Ncube.

"This is a very serious situation and I am worried that more and more children will drop out in the months to come."

FEARS

Sitting on a log next to the schoolyard fence, Martin Smart says that he is worried about much more than his children's education.

Head of the village of Chidobe 4, Smart fears that his people will start to die, especially when malaria returns with the rains.

"At the moment we are coping thanks to the food aid but the situation will get much worse when the rainy season starts in October," said Smart.

"Everyone knows that sickness and hunger go together and that diseases like malaria are much more deadly when people are weak."

And unlike in the past, the people of Chidobe have no means of making any money to help them buy extra food or medicines.

VICTORIA FALLS

Previously, they could count on earning some cash from the tourist industry at nearby Victoria Falls, either through casual labour or selling curios. But not now.

Over the past two years, Zimbabwe's once-booming tourist industry has slackened off.

"In 1992, there was also no food but then we could make money from the tourists at Vic Falls," said Smart. "But this year, there are no tourists and there is no way for us to make any money."

On top of that, the desperate people of Chidobe cannot even sell their remaining livestock.

Prices have already hit rock bottom but no one is buying because the animals are in such poor condition. Indeed, some cows have already died. And it is still a few months until the rains return to replenish the area's grazing land.

Zimbabwe's timetable of hunger: no. of people requiring food aid, 2002-03

June-August 2002: 5,267,000 Sept-Nov 2002: 6,074,000 Dec 2002-Mar 2003: 6,074,000

FOOD AID

Looking tired after helping to unload the bags of maize, Jonathan Ncube explains that he has thought seriously about leaving the area.

With no food in the house and no means of supporting his five children, 49-year old Ncube says that - like many other people - he considered migrating in search of work.

However, the deliveries of WFP food aid have kept him in Chidobe. They have also kept many people alive.

"There are so many starving people here in Chidobe," he said, pointing at the long line of men and women waiting for their maize ration. "Some people complain that we are not given enough food but it keeps my children alive. And anyway, if someone gives you a hand, you shouldn't ask for a whole arm."

But Jonathan Ncube does have one request - that the food aid continues right up until the next maize harvest in April 2003.

If it doesn't, he has no doubts about what will happen. "If the food aid stops, people here will start to die," he said quietly. "I mean it. You will be burying us in dozens."