"Drought-ruined crops and a government mandate to sell harvests to the state raise fears of food insecurity".
"BUBI, Zimbabwe - Standing next to her traditional wooden maize store in western Zimbabwe, farmer Lindiwe Ncube gestures towards the empty compartments that spell trouble for her family's future.
Last June, all five were stacked with sizeable maize cobs ready to sell. This year, only of them is just about full after a mid-season drought ruined the harvest, leaving the 49-year-old with barely enough to feed her own family.
"This season is bad, it is a season of hunger," Ncube told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at her home in the village of Alfalfa in Bubi district, near the nation's second largest city Bulawayo.
"The maize cobs are small and I only managed to have four bags (weighing 50kg each). I will not be selling anything.""
Busani Bafana reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation June 29, 2022.
Advertisement 
