COVID-19 or hunger. Which one is the real threat?

AS the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, people's lives have greatly changed. This pandemic has hugely twisted politics, health, the economy and public services to the extent that a return to normalcy will require governments in respective countries to refocus their attention on governance, policies and strategies.

On April 28, 2020, worldwide cases of COVID-19 topped three million, with 211 738 deaths recorded. Zimbabwe has so far recorded 34 confirmed cases, four deaths and five recoveries.

With the World Health Organisation ( WHO) indicating that the pandemic is still far from over, the politics of the stomach now poses a new threat to Zimbabwe, which is still battling with COVID-19.

Given the fact that many people in urban areas already face poverty and struggle to get food, the food system in Zimbabwe has already become so complicated under the lockdown, which was on Friday extended by another 14 days by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

It is a fact that the very poorest in Zimbabwe's towns and cities often depend on casual labour in the informal sector to put food on their tables, something which is impossible under lockdown regulations.

Apparently, it has become so difficult for many to see a continued inflow of income to sustain themselves. However, for the fortunate ones who have the means to rake in money from their businesses, the question of where to buy food still boggles the mind, with heavy restrictions on movement from one place to another still in place.

Already, there is an increase in the number of reports on clashes between citizens and security forces, whereby the latter try to force people who will be milling around shops and markets to go home, thereby suggesting that there is something lacking at homes.

The government announced that it intends to issue out $200 per family as bailout packages to selected poor and vulnerable urban dwellers, but it still remains to be seen if this pledge will be fulfilled. While supermarkets have advanced in some cities, many people in urban areas depend on small shops (tuckshops) and open air markets, which outlets are important to those who can only afford to buy in small quantities ( tumatsaona).

Closing markets, therefore, for public health reasons has already compromised people's ability to buy food as well as curtailed the livelihoods of producers and vendors, with cumulative consequences for their own food security. Yes, such actions by government were necessary to combat the pandemic, but it was also crucial to put alternative measures for people to have easy access to food. This way, they could concentrate on containing the spread of COVID-19 easily. The real question now, therefore, is which of the two is the real threat — COVID-19 or hunger?