Every fortnight Makaitei Musakwa, 45, catches one of her chickens, picks up some of the maize she has grown, and sets off for the village mill to have the maize ground into mealie-meal, Zimbabwe’s staple food.

“It is difficult for me to raise the money that the miller charges … I have nowhere to get it from,” said the widow who looks after four children of her own as well as two nephews. “He charges a chicken to grind for me twice.”

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