Hunger

From a random sample of 1059 households interviewed in 2001 (representing approximately 7.1% of the total number of households in the core area), 98.5% of households grew maize as the primary food crop. Household selection was based on random numbers associated with household listings provided by area headmen from the different communities sampled. Only 3.4% of these households used fertilizer, and mean maize yield for these farmers was more than three times the yield for farmers who did not use fertilizer. This finding highlighted the importance of soil quality as contributing to variations in crop yield between farmers; yet, the expense of chemical fertilizer prevents the vast majority of families from utilizing this strategy. Unfortunately, the local annual practice of burning crop residues, which exposes soils to wind and rain erosion, serves to hasten soil depletion. As human numbers increase and available farmland becomes more limited in the valley areas, household response to diminishing returns from farming land that might be over-farmed or too marginal to sustain adequate yields will likely rely increasingly on consumptive use of natural resources.

From the total sample of households surveyed, food security was calculated on the basis of family size, average consumption rates (WFP estimates), and total maize production for both 2000 and 2001. Results indicated that 77.3% and 48.9% of the sampled households for each year, respectively, were food secure up to the ninth month after harvest, when fresh harvest is normally sufficient to meet households food security needs. Various factors contributed to food shortages based on perceived reasons expressed by the respondents of this survey. 74.9% identified animals (including birds) as being a source of crop loss in 2000, while 13.2% complained about effects from flooding. For the 2001 crop, 58.5% of the households viewed flooding and the effects of too much rain as being the biggest source of crop damage.

One important way households compensated for insufficient food production was the illegal harvesting of wildlife. Poaching with wire snares was typically performed not for consumption, but rather to exchange meat for starch-based foods. In 2000, a survey of 486 households selected randomly from Game Management Areas in the valley was conducted to reveal the extent of this problem. Respondents revealed that over 40% of families used wire snaring as a mechanism to cope with food insecurity. Data describing the nature and full extent of the threat posed by this practice, as well as the threat posed by ?professional poachers? (mostly using guns), are described in more detail elsewhere. BACK TO TOP