Drought increases Zimbabwe corn imports – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, ZIMBABWE— Zimbabwe plans to import corn to circumvent crop loss in the previous year and expected continued drought for 2020, according to Bloomberg.

Zimbabwe is currently in the midst of back-to-back droughts, which is causing issues in producing corn.

Bloomberg said Zimbabwe’s corn imports are working to feed about 8 million citizens. The country’s corn consumption is about 2.2 million tonnes per year.

“We are facing a drought unlike any that we have seen in a long time,” said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, during the middle of peak farming season in 2019. “We are talking about people who truly are marching toward starvation if we are not here to help them.”

According to the WFP, a poor harvest in 2014-15, historic drought in 2015-16, and the second-worst cyclone on record in 2019 have taken a toll on Zimbabwe’s ag sector.

“The consequences for the population are dire, chiefly because 80% of Zimbabweans depend almost entirely on rain to feed their crops and livestock,” the WFP said.

According to a December 2019 USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Network System (Fewsnet) report about Southern Africa, the October 2019 to March 2020 season started poorly with widespread rainfall deficits, forecasting models anticipate a below-average rainfall through March, including in surplus-producing Zambia and South Africa.

“This follows the poor 2018-19 season, during which widespread drought resulted in poor agricultural production and deteriorated livestock conditions,” Fewsnet said. “These trends are compounded by flooding and conflict in DRC and very poor macroeconomic conditions in Zimbabwe.”

The Fewsnet report forecasts below average production in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe while South Africa and Mozambique, the region’s largest maize grain producer, are likely to produce average to below-average ag production.

“Since Zambia and South Africa produce more than 70% of regional maize grain, regional maize grain supply for the 2020-21 marketing year is expected to be below 2019-20 and the five-year average,” Fewsnet said. “As a result, maize grain prices across the region in 2020 are anticipated to remain high and exceeding 2019 prices.”

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.

Zimbabwe’s youths shun festivities to focus on survival – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe 

Christmas and New Year’s no longer matter to 29-year-old Raymond Mutavara, a jobless Zimbabwean university graduate, because he has more pressing things on his mind.

“For the past six years, I have grappled with economic challenges, living on my own. My parents live in a rural area, and I have to make sure I send something for them there, and therefore, even if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, I have to sell my things to make money,” Mutavara told Anadolu Agency.

He said he graduated with a national certificate in marketing from Harare Polytechnic College six years ago.

But like millions of other graduates, Mutavara has never been lucky enough to land a job, and for him, celebrating Christmas or New Year’s is “worthless” because he has no means to do that.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest trade union organization, more than 90% of the country’s approximately 14 million people are unemployed.

Another thorn in the side of many Zimbabwean youths like Mutavara is inflation, which is hovering above 300% according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But even as this hurts Zimbabweans — particularly youths like Mutavara, who have to bear the brunt of joblessness — Christmas and New Year’s festivities have over the years been joyous events here. But not anymore.

Across the globe, in countries where Christianity holds sway, millions if not billions of Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on Dec. 25.

Then on Jan. 1, the world, including Zimbabwe, celebrates the beginning of a new year.

Christmas and New Year’s are commemorated with drinking, feasting, dancing and reunions with friends and relatives in countries like Zimbabwe. But for many like Mutavara, that is no longer the case.

“I have no money to do that. I have no time for that because I have to be busy looking for money to meet my basic needs. I have to pay my monthly rent where I stay, and if I waste the little earnings that I get every day on those two days of feasting, where will I go without paying rent?” he said.

Unidentified male vendor sits by a street corner at Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare street in the Zimbabwean capital selling popcorn and sweets placed on his makeshift market stall. (Jeffrey Moyo/ Anadolu Agency)

Mutavara said he also has to be up and about in his search for money to feed himself besides those depending on him, although he is not yet married.

During this year’s Christmas celebrations, for instance, in the capital Harare’s central business district, youths lined up their wares along popular First Street, touting for customers who apparently proved hard to get.

“It’s business as usual. If you sleep, saying it’s Christmas, nobody will give you money tomorrow,” 31-year old Linda Munemo, a vendor who sold baby clothes spread on a mat on the ground at the Copacabana bus station in the capital, told Anadolu Agency.

Starvation also taunts Zimbabwe from left, right and center, not sparing rural or urban areas.

This means youths like Mutavara and Munemo are no exception in the face of famine as well, a situation many like them say has forced them to lose sight of Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that around 5.5 million Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas would require food aid amid a debilitating drought that has hit the nation.

Shops and supermarkets have turned into no-go areas for poor Zimbabweans because of the biting cost of living. For instance, just 10 kilograms of mealie-meal costs over 100 Zimbabwean dollars, or approximately US$6.

Mealie-meal is made from ground maize, sorghum or millet in Zimbabwe and is used to prepare sadza, a thick porridge — the country’s staple food.

Amid Zimbabwe’s fading Christmas and New Year’s euphoria, civil society leaders like Claris Madhuku have equally seen nothing worth celebrating.

“Young people are correct — they can’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s these days because most of them are poor and living from hand to mouth,” Madhuku, who heads a civil society organization called the Platform for Youth Development, told Anadolu Agency.

Yet as poverty reigns supreme in Zimbabwe, robbing many like Mutavara and Munemo’s joy during festivities like Christmas and New Year’s, for independent economists like Marshall Hove, who has an economics degree from the University of Zimbabwe, even worse days may be ahead as long as Zimbabwe does not address the economic fundamentals of its own economy.

To trade union activists like Zivaishe Zhou, at this rate of economic decay, very soon, people will completely stop celebrating anything.