How far Zimbabwe has fallen from being one of Africa’s most productive countries and a frontline state in the struggle against apartheid in the 1980s. Following the chaotic implementation of structural adjustment and violent and ill-executed land reform in the late 90s, President Robert Mugabe - an icon of African liberation – now presides over widespread hunger, idle farmland and a cholera epidemic that serves to highlight collapsing infrastructure, economy and social services. Life expectancy for a Zimbabwean woman has fallen to just 34.

IPS examines political paralysis and the best local and regional efforts to stem the slide, survive the crisis, and eventually rebuild the nation.