A 35 percent increase in the price of basic foods like bread and sugar triggered the protests. Analysts say that the worst is yet to come. Farmers, who produce about 40 percent of the corn crop, say harvests in the first six months of next year will drop by more than half. Some claim that political unrest and violence leading up to the June Parliamentary elections have caused the decrease in production. The bottom line is that Zimbabwe, which is usually self-sufficient in grain will have to import food.
Imports require foreign exchange, which is hard to come by in Zimbabwe.
Foreign exchange shortages have driven up fuel prices, raising the cost of food and transport. Paraffin, used in most homes for cooking and heating, doubled in price once in August, and then doubled again in October. After defaulting on its loans, Zimbabwe no longer has a working relationship with the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, and many western donors, expressing concern over Zimbabwe's participation in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have frozen aid. The government has already overspent its budget by at least 25 percent, and interest rates currently run at more than 60 percent. Some say that the independence of the judiciary is the one buffer that still remains between Zimbabwean citizens and outright lawlessness.