Surrounded by diamonds, villagers go hungry in Zim

SHYLET Mutsago, a 63year-old who lives near the diamond fields of Marange, cannot hide her anger over how mining in this gem-rich part of eastern Zimbabwe has failed to improve the lives of local people.

She watches from a distance as companies turn the ground over in search of alluvial diamonds, releasing clouds of red dust into the sky.

“Our hopes of benefiting from the diamonds are gone,” she said.

“And with this severe drought, we are now placing our lives in the hands of God.

“We are living close to these diamond mines, yet we are starving.”

As crops failed due to a lack of rain, some villagers could no longer afford even one proper meal a day, and were surviving on wild fruits like baobab, Mutsago said.

Amid frequent drought, people in Marange had hoped the diamond industry would invest in reviving irrigation schemes.

National law requires mining companies to help local communities to develop.

Though prone to dry spells, the situation in Marange has been exacerbated by the current El Nino weather phenomenon, which has brought drought to large swathes of Zimbabwe.

The government has declared a state of disaster in most rural parts of the country, saying that 2.44 million people – about a quarter of the population – need food aid.

Irrigation schemes in and around Marange are no longer operating properly as small-scale farmers cannot pay to maintain or replace ageing equipment.

“Just a few diamond stones could have helped change our lives, but no one seems to care,” Mutsago said.

Her frustration is shared by many in Marange, which is home to more than 80 000 people.

Malvern Mudiwa said the drought was so serious that villagers had no idea how they would survive through the year, “but imagine, we are surrounded by diamonds!”

Mudiwa, who also heads an advocacy group, the Marange Development Trust, said: “The government must order these mining companies to feed the starving people in Marange.”

Marange was regarded as one of the world’s richest alluvial diamond deposits, but its resources were depleting, experts said.

It was estimated to have produced about 17 million carats in 2013, 13% of the global rough diamond supply, according to the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.

Production figures for last year are not yet available.

When the Zimunya-Marange Community Share Ownership Trust was set up by President Robert Mugabe in 2012, the five diamond companies operating there promised to put in $10-million (R161-million) each to support villagers over the coming five years.

Four years on, they have deposited only $400 000 (R6.5-million) in the trust.