Cattle are dying in numbers not seen since the 2019 drought as an intensifying El Niño weather pattern leaves large parts of Matabeleland without meaningful rainfall for a third consecutive season.

Veterinary officials in Tsholotsho and Lupane districts report losses running well above seasonal norms, with communal farmers describing herds reduced by a third or more as grazing land turns to dust months ahead of schedule.

Government has begun limited supplementary feeding programmes, but local leaders say the scale of the response is not matching the scale of the crisis, and are calling for an early declaration of a state of disaster to unlock international assistance.

"We buried the drought of 2019 in our memory. This one is worse, and it's not finished yet," said a village head in Lupane, standing beside a dry borehole that has not produced water in six weeks.