Zimbabwe Food Security Outlook Update – December 2025: Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes expanding during lean season through March

Key
Messages

• 
  Crisis
  (IPC
  Phase
  3)
  outcomes
  are
  expected
  to
  expand
  in
  early
  2026
  as
  an
  increasing
  number
  of
  households
  face
  difficulty
  accessing
  food.
  Households
  in
  these
  areas
  are
  expected
  to
  have
  depleted
  own
  produced
  food
  stocks.
  With
  grain
  stocks
  low
  or
  unavailable
  on
  the
  market
  in
  some
  areas,
  many
  poor
  households
  will
  likely
  face
  challenges
  purchasing
  staple
  cereal,
  mainly
  maize
  meal,
  due
  to
  below-average
  purchasing
  power. Meanwhile, Stressed
  (IPC
  Phase
  2)
  outcomes
  are
  expected
  to
  prevail
  in
  most
  typical
  surplus-producing
  areas of
  the
  Mashonaland
  Provinces
  during
  the
  same
  period.
  Poor
  households
  in
  these
  areas
  are
  expected
  to
  meet
  only
  their
  minimal
  food
  needs
  through
  own-produced
  stocks
  or
  seasonal
  casual
  labor
  engagement
  at
  below-normal
  levels
  due
  to
  low
  payments.
• 
  Acute
  food
  security
  is
  expected
  to
  improve
  from
  April/May
  2026
  throughout
  the
  country driven
  by
  most
  likely
  favorable
  2026
  harvest
  following
  the
  forecast
  above-average
  rainy
  season.
  This
  will
  result
  in
  Minimal
  (IPC
  Phase
  1)
  and
  Stressed
  (IPC
  Phase
  2)
  outcomes.
  Many
  households
  are
  expected
  to
  consume
  food
  from
  their
  own
  production.
  Meanwhile,
  as
  market
  supplies
  increase,
  staple-food
  prices
  are
  expected
  to
  be
  at
  a
  seasonal
  low,
  improving
  access
  for
  non-crop-producing
  households,
  especially
  in
  urban
  areas.
• 
  
  Above-average
  rainfall
  between
  October
  1
  and
  December
  15 in
  most
  areas
  is
  facilitating
  engagement
  in
  land
  preparation
  and
  planting
  activities. However,
  Mashonaland
  Central,
  northern
  areas
  of
  Mashonaland
  East,
  and
  localized
  areas
  in
  Masvingo
  provinces
  have
  received
  below-average
  rainfall
  since
  October.Water
  and pasture
  conditions have
  improved.Given
  sufficient
  rainfall
  by
  early
  December, planting
  is
  ongoing
  across
  the
  country,
  and
  planted
  areas
  are
  significantly
  higher
  than
  at
  the
  same
  time
  last
  year.
• 
  Typical
  seasonal
  income-earning
  activities
  and
  household
  income
  remain
  at
  below-normal
  levels
  across
  many
  parts
  of
  the
  country. Theseinclude
  food
  crop
  sales
  due
  to
  lack
  of
  stocks
  among
  the
  poor
  in
  some
  areas,
  agricultural
  labor,
  self-employment,
  petty
  trade,
  remittances,
  and
  cross-border
  trade.
  Most
  of
  these
  have
  been
  reduced
  due
  to
  localized
  rainfall
  deficits
  last
  year
  and
  continued
  macroeconomic
  constraints.

Post
published
in:

Agriculture