The United Nation has said more than half of the harvest in Zimbabwe has been destroyed due to a historic drought with around 7.6 million people now at risk of acute hunger.

During a daily media briefing yesterday, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said, the food security situation in the country is deteriorating rapidly following the drought caused by El Nino. The drought has strained Zimbabwe’s economy, with more than one fifth of school-aged children now out of school, and has led to critical water shortages.

UN Assistant Secretary-General and Climate Crisis Coordinator Reena Ghelani, and Assistant Executive Director of the World Food Programme Valerie Guarnieri called for more international support  after recently concluding a week-long mission to assess the impact of the drought in the country.