WFP Zimbabwe Country Brief, December 2016

Highlights

• WFP’s El Niño response scales up to reach one million people in December.

• Additional contributions from China, Finland and Russia now allow WFP to continue providing rations to over 1 million people throughout the peak of the Lean Season (January to March), but still below the 1.9 million people target.

• Over the last month, an additional 645 people have fled clashes in Mozambique and are now hosted in the Tongogara Refugee Camp.

Operational Updates

• Through the LSA, in December, WFP provided assistance to 1,017,923 people affected by the El Niño-induced drought. Of these, 398,518 people received their assistance through the cash transfer modality, either through cash in transit, mobile money, electronic vouchers or a combination of cash and in-kind assistance. WFP’s cash transfers now reach 40 percent people assisted under the LSA programme.

• Of the estimated 2,500 refugees who camped at the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique after fleeing clashes in Mozambique between government forces and Renamo, 645 were relocated to Tongogara refugee camp in December. WFP in partnership with UNHCR and the Government will temporarily halt further relocation efforts due to resource constraints, but assistance will continue to be provided to the refugees in the camp.

• In December, distributions of specialized foods for the treatment of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) commenced in six of the 22 districts with Global Acute Malnutrition rates above five percent, with the remaining 16 districts expected to receive support from January.

• In partnership with FAO and the Government of Zimbabwe, WFP is supporting 5,389 smallholder farmers in Mudzi and Rushinga districts, strengthening their resilience by increasing production and productivity of drought-tolerant small grains; and developing market linkages and a predictable demand. Farmers started planting in December, with 93 percent of the planned 646 hectares planted by the end of that month. AGRITEX is supporting farmers with extension services.

• The Emergency School Feeding Programme assisted 76,477 children in the first week of December before school closure. The programme will resume as schools re-open in January.