Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis is the result of ongoing political instability and the tyrannical dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. In addition, drought, HIV/AIDS and cholera epidemics have added to the suffering of the population. Zimbabwe is a country facing ruin. Plagued by disease and agriculturally devastated, life expectancy has plummeted. In the last 20 years Zimbabwe has spiraled from the breadbasket of southern Africa into a starving nation whose population relies largely on food aid. In addition to the ongoing drought, government land reforms have exacerbated the failing agricultural economy and currently 45% of Zimbabwe’s population is malnourished. Rampant inflation, which reached rates as high as 2 million percent in 2009, has made life unmanageable and resulted in the collapse of the healthcare and educational systems. Human rights abuses and political repression are widespread. In March 2008 the nation’s crisis escalated when disputed (and rigged) elections led to a wave of political violence. After months of uncertainty and failed attempts at establishing a legitimately elected democratic government, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister with Robert Mugabe remaining President. The adoption of the dollar as the basis of a new currency has brought some improvement but Zimbabwe is still stigmatized by Mugabe’s actions and the rule of democratic law does not reign.