In pictures: Zimbabwe's impoverished pensioners

Masuria Saiba sits in her room with her life savings of Zimbabwean dollars, now worthless amid hyperinflation. She lives at Melford Farm, an elderly persons' residence in Harare, which is supported by HelpAge International.

Economic hardship has swept Zimbabwe. The local dollar has now been abandoned, in favour of the US dollar and South African rand. Too old for the few jobs available, elderly people have no means of getting any money.

An elderly woman holds up the only beans her and her husband have to eat that day, at their house near Mazowe, just north of the capital, Harare.

Jesca Seremani cannot rely on her once large family to support her in old age in the Epworth area of the capital - she has lost seven of her eight children to Aids.

Sekwerekwe Bitoni sits on the floor of his home, a disused railway carriage, at an elderly people’s home in Mazowe. He was found living on the streets after his family had left to find work in South Africa.

Mr Bitoni eats his daily meal of maize at the home, which is also supported by HelpAge. He has no means of supporting himself because his savings were in now worthless Zimbabwean dollars.

In the past people from neighbouring countries travelled to Zimbabwe in search of work. David, who came from Mozambique in the 1970s, prepares a meal at the Mazowe home where he now lives with his wife.

Residents at the care homes, like Emmanuel Zinhare in Mazowe, are encouraged to grow maize to help raise funds and feed themselves. (Text and photos: Kate Holt)