Starving family in Zimbabwe eats rug to survive

Starving families have been feeding on the skin of a cow that was slaughtered six years ago as the famine in Zimbabwe worsens.

It is just one sad example of the deepening crisis engulfing the country.

Children as young as two have been eating the skin and one man has died. The hide was originally used as a rug in a village near Bulawayo, hit by starvation and haunted by a cholera outbreak.



Families, who cannot get hold of grain, have also resorted to eating pois­onous plants, while others have died after eating wild fruits.

Grandmother-of-seven Ellinah, 66, said: 'Since the summer, we've had no harvest. We had nothing to do but eat the unthinkable.

'Whatever we can get our hands on these days, that goes down. Our ancestors used to keep the skin of their beasts, in case of drought or famine. We just didn't know what else we could eat any more.'