Millions of Zimbabweans continue to face food insecurity, a pressing challenge that officials blame on an El Nino-induced drought and the resulting economic slowdown.
According to the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Vulnerability Assessment released in May, about 7.7 million people in the country cannot provide enough food for themselves due to massive crop failure. The majority are in rural areas. （https://stateofthenation.co.zw/2024/05/15/drought-puts-7-7-million-zimbabweans-in-need-of-food-assistance/）
However, the hardships are not restricted to the countryside, as many families in cities are cutting back on meals and sinking into debt.
In Epworth, a high-density settlement in Harare, resident Maria Matiringe is finding it harder to get by.
"I do piece jobs as a domestic worker, but right now, no one has any extra money to pay me because things are tight due to the drought. My income has gone down when prices of most foodstuffs are going up," she said.
Matiringe has reduced the number of meals she cooks at home to one and now spends money on bare essentials, re-packed into smaller quantities.
Women and children in urban and rural areas bear the brunt of the drought.
Donors are working with authorities to sink irrigation boreholes in an effort to improve food production during dry seasons. They are also focusing on enabling communities to bounce back next season.
"People who did not harvest anything last year have no seeds to plant. They may have sold off their cattle, their goats and all, so to avoid a repeat situation next year where people did not plant enough because they didn't have seed or are not able to rely on their livestock, we need to look at ways of recovery activities. But for that harvest to happen, we need seeds, we need fertilizers, we need to work with these rural communities to enable them to restart," said Walter Mwasaa, Acting Country Director at Care International.
Continued food insecurity impacts millions of Zimbabweans
Continued food insecurity impacts millions of Zimbabweans
Zhou Hongyi, founder of Chinese cybersecurity giant Qihoo 360 and a member of China’s top political advisory body, has stressed the need to harness artificial intelligence (AI) to confront mounting security threats in a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
As a member to the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Zhou placed "AI plus” security at the core of his proposals to this year's "two sessions," which convene this week, framing it as China's frontline strategy for strengthening cybersecurity.
The "two sessions" are the yearly meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the CPPCC, which serve five-year terms and convene each March. The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off on Thursday and Wednesday, respectively.
Expanding on the "AI plus" security agenda, Zhou said it would enable China to simulate cyberattacks, uncover weaknesses, and deploy digital agents across industries, measures he sees as vital to safeguarding enterprises in the AI era.
"This year I would like to first focus on 'AI plus' security, which means we must use AI's abilities to solve traditional security issues. For example we can simulate an attack to an enterprise's network, identifying its vulnerabilities and then fix them. Secondly, I think AI agents would be a key factor for 'AI plus' to be truly implemented into various industries, because large models have their own limits. Only by transforming large models into AI agents, and into digital experts and digital interns, can it be integrated with the business of enterprises," Zhou said.
Turning to the humanoid robots showcased at this year's Spring Festival Gala, Zhou said their appearance highlighted China's rapid progress in robotics and signaled that the era of intelligent machines is approaching.
"I am not surprised. I feel quite lucky I didn't do boxing with those robots on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, because I don't think I can hit them. I think China's robots manufacturing industry has seen huge progress over the past year. On the other hand, I think that show also reflects our country's industrial strategy, which is sending us a signal that an era of robots is coming. How shall we empower our enterprises through AI? That's a question our entrepreneurs and investors need to think about," he said.
As China embarks on its 15th Five-Year Plan in 2026, Zhou projects that the continued development of AI will drive substantial demand in key sectors, such as energy, raw materials, and chips.
"First I think energy, as well as some of the raw materials that can align with the development of computing power would see huge progress. The chips industry will also be developed. I think China needs more inference chips. And there would also be a huge demand for electricity," he said.
This year marks the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, spanning from 2026 to 2030, a period widely seen as pivotal for the country's long-term development. The plan is expected to be formally endorsed by the NPC during the "two sessions" with more detailed targets released later.
CPPCC member calls for AI-driven defenses to safeguard enterprises amid rising cyber threats
