Tawanda Musarurwa
CHECK POINT DESK
MAIZE, sugar, wheat, oil and rice are the five foods dominating the country’s diet, making up around 62 percent of Zimbabwe’s calories intake last year.
But, while the foods fill stomachs, they may be leaving bodies starved of essential nutrients.
The recently released Zimbabwe Food Balance Sheet (2021-2024) by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) offers a rare, data-rich window into what people are actually eating.
Beneath the comforting staple of sadza are quiet deficiencies that could define the country’s public health for years to come.
Enough calories to survive, not thrive
Between 2021 and 2024, the country’s average dietary energy supply stood at 2 300 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day, just above the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)’s minimum dietary energy requirement for most adults of 2 000 kcal per day.
By contrast, the average calorie intake in South Africa is closer to 2 900 kcal a day.
This suggests that Zimbabwe is not a hungry nation.
But “enough calories” is not the same as “healthy calories”.
As indicated, according to the latest Zimbabwe Food Balance Sheet, most of the country’s calories in 2024 come from just five foods, with the bulk of calories (27 percent) coming from maize meal (616 kcal per person per day), 14 percent from refined sugar (330 kcal), 9 percent from wheat and meslin flour (199 kcal), 8 percent from soya bean oil (180 kcal) and 4 percent from broken rice (96 kcal).
This diet is heavily carbohydrate-driven and sugar-laden, with minimal diversity.
In comparison, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends diets where cereals are complemented by pulses, vegetables, fruits and lean proteins to ensure adequate micronutrients.
Sugar, accounting for 14 percent of calories, is striking and concerning, because while it fuels energy, it also carries the rising risk of non-communicable diseases.
Cereals biggest source of protein
The data shows that Zimbabweans consumed an average of 48 grammes (g) of protein per person per day last year, down from 51g in 2021.
While this is above the bare minimum for survival, the source composition is troubling.
According to the data, 70 percent of proteins available for human consumption in Zimbabwe came from maize meal at 26,3 percent, followed by wheat flour at 13 percent, chicken meat at 9,7 percent and groundnuts at 5,9 percent.
Cabbages and rice accounted for 3,6 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Beef and potatoes accounted for 3,2 percent each, while eggs were 2,7 percent.
Animal fat sources lag
Zimbabweans consumed an average of 68,6g of fat per person per day in 2024, with most coming from soya bean oil (29 percent), groundnuts (8 percent) and maize meal (7,6 percent).
While plant-based fats are generally healthier, the near-absence of omega-3 rich fish and diverse animal fats can limit fat-soluble vitamin absorption.
The latest Zimbabwe Food Balance Sheet paints a picture of a diet that is energy-dense, but nutrient-light.
Zimbabweans are eating enough to stave off hunger, but risk micronutrient deficiencies, especially in vitamin A, vitamin C and some minerals like zinc.
Micronutrients: The quiet crisis
In Murewa, 52-year-old Tendai Njenje (not her real name) is happy that last season’s rains were better (because of La Niña effects) and she had a good crop of maize, groundnuts and beans, and her vegetable garden is thriving.
“We eat till full,” she said, “but sometimes I wonder if my children are getting everything they need to grow strong.”
The report shows that cereals dominate energy, protein and iron supply, and that vegetables provide vitamin C but in low absolute quantities.
It also highlighted that animal products are scarce contributors to calcium and vitamin A.
This imbalance explains why stunting and anaemia remain concerns in national policy documents and health surveys.
“The country still faces a triple burden of malnutrition, with at least one in five children suffering from chronic malnutrition, 2,2 percent suffering from overnutrition and one in three suffering from micronutrient deficiencies,” reads part of the Multisectoral Food and Nutrition Security Strategy for Zimbabwe (2023-2025).
Notwithstanding these concerns, stunting prevalence in Zimbabwe has shown a progressive decline, according to FAO data.
Stunting prevalence declined to 33,7 percent in 2010, down from 34,6 percent in 2006.
As at 2020, it had declined to 23 percent, which is below the regional average of 29,1 percent.
Maize meal, the hero of calories and proteins (and most other nutrients), contributes almost nothing to vitamin C and limited amounts of vitamin A.
Potatoes provide some vitamin C, but fruit intake remains worryingly low.
Without deliberate dietary diversification, nutritional gaps can persist even when plates are full.
“Food consumption and dietary diversity are important considerations in understanding the prevalence of stunting in Zimbabwe,” says a 2021 Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund and Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit study titled “Assessing the multi-dimensional risk of stunting amongst children under five years in Zimbabwe”.
What this means for health
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (zero hunger) seeks to ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food year-round.
While the country’s current food landscape reflects progress on SDG 2.1 (end hunger), it still lags on SDG 2.2 (end all forms of malnutrition).
While domestic production of staples like maize and sugar ensures adequate average calorie intake and some self-sufficiency, the diet remains overly reliant on low-diversity staples and sugar, with declining protein quality and vitamin deficiencies.
Without dietary shifts, the country faces a double burden of malnutrition — undernourishment among vulnerable groups and rising chronic diseases in urban areas.
Undernourishment has broader social and economic consequences.
“Nutrition plays a crucial role in mental health, as the foods we consume directly impact brain function and emotional well-being. For example, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and flaxseed, have been linked to reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, while a diet low in processed sugars can reduce mood swings and anxiety,” says public health expert and mental health specialist Dr Murudo Lamhara-Mutape.
“Antioxidants from fruits and vegetables can combat oxidative stress and inflammation, promoting cognitive health.”
She said deficiencies in essential nutrients like B vitamins (such as vitamin B12) and magnesium can lead to mood swings and psychotic symptoms.
Closing the gap
To align the country’s diet with zero hunger’s nutrition ambitions, the Zimbabwe Food Balance Sheet data points to three priorities: diversifying production and diets; boosting pulses, fruits and vegetables; and boosting small livestock, which could improve amino acid balance and vitamin intake. In terms of the latter, the country has various livestock-boosting initiatives, such as the Zimbabwe Livestock Growth Programme.
For example, a direct meat marketing initiative introduced by the Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) in Mbire, Mashonaland Central province, is bearing fruit, with the Mbire Goat Producers Association last year reporting that it had begun to sell at least 100 goats and producing 50 commercial breeding stocks each month.
The scheme was funded by the European Union through ZAGP’s Value Chain Alliance for Livestock Upgrading and Empowerment (VALUE) project.
On the other hand, the Presidential Fisheries Programme seeks to boost fish production to 60 000 tonnes annually by 2026, contributing to improved nutritional outcomes.
Zimbabwe’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Strategy targets to increase fish production to improve household food security and nutrition security through the provision of a cheap animal protein source by 70 percent and increase average per capita consumption of fish from 2kg per person to 19kg per person.
These initiatives show that for Zimbabwe, expanding access to diverse foods is not just an agricultural challenge, but also a health and economic strategy.
Food and nutrition security is one of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1)’s nine priority areas, and it is aligned to the SDGs, the global 2030 agenda, the SADC Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2015-2025) and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.
Micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia in children (27,3 percent) and 15,6 percent for women of childbearing age, vitamin A deficiency (21,2 percent) and iodine deficiency disorders (15,8 percent) are nutritional challenges identified in the NDS1.
Experts call for urgency in dealing with the micronutrient gaps.
“Fortifying maize meal and scaling up vitamin A supplementation are faster, more practical fixes than waiting for long-term dietary change,” said a clinical nutritionist from a local university.
“They can plug critical nutrient gaps, while we work on broader food system reforms.”
The latest Zimbabwe Food Balance Sheet shows that the country is meeting basic caloric needs but missing the mark on diet quality.
A nutrient diversity-focused food security policy will drive Zimbabwe to cover the gap on SDG 2’s vision of ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030.
THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY MAIL – https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/the-illusion-of-fullness-why-more-food-doesnt-mean-better-health/