Matt Cochrane in Zimbabwe
The World Food Programme now estimates that seven million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid. The Zimbabwe Red Cross is supporting some of the country's most desperately vulnerable people.
"I think there are almost 400 families getting food here today," says Lucky, squinting against the glare of the afternoon sun.
Behind him, a line disappears beyond the trees: a queue of people waiting patiently for a monthly allocation of cereals, beans and cooking oil.
"People are very hungry," continues Lucky, now staring at the ground. It's too hot today.
People are very hungry. According to the World Food Programme, there are now seven million people in Zimbabwe who need food assistance from organizations like the Zimbabwe Red Cross. Last year, the 'worst case scenario' was just over five million.
Six months ago, this land was parched. The soil baked to dust by unrelenting sun and absent rain. The land looked hungry.
Now, after a healthy rainy season, the countryside is green and the grass is long. It looks to a layman like a farmer's paradise. The fields are sown with maize and sorghum, and the rivers are flowing.
But the truth is that much of next year's harvest has already failed. Most of the fields that you see as you drive through Masvingo comefrom seeds that were scrounged from graineries and the side of the road.
They are grossly inadequate. Even those plants that are growing from healthy seeds don't have much hope. An almost total lack of fertilizers and irrigation has left them stunted and withering.
This year's harvest, like that of the previous year, has failed.
Back at the food distribution point in Chivi, we speak with Esilia Tshabela, a 33-year-old woman who has been living with HIV for the past two years. For her, hunger is particularly painful. The anti retroviral drugs she is taking are toxic without a full stomach.
"We used to struggle and do small jobs in the community," she says. "But I am sickly and it's difficult for me now."
Estilia explains that sometimes she and her children would go a whole week without food, unless a kindly neighbour was able to share a small portion of mealie-meal.
"The Red Cross has been so helpful."