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Zimbabwe

WFP Zimbabwe Country Brief, May 2018

Attachments

In Numbers

  • 32.79 mt of food assistance distributed

  • US$138,567 cash based transfers assistance

  • US$ 24.7 m six months (July - December 2018) net funding requirements, representing 53% of total

  • 13,923 people assisted in May 2018

Operational Context

Over the last decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a number of unprecedented economic, environmental and political shocks and stressors, contributing to a 2017 Global Hunger Index classified as ‘serious.’ 62.6 percent of Zimbabweans live below the poverty line. Consecutive poor agricultural seasons have further undermined the agricultural sector, with dire consequences for a population in which 80 percent of people derive a significant proportion of their livelihoods from rain-fed agriculture and livestock production. Micronutrient deficiencies are prevalent, including a 66 percent prevalence of anaemia among children of ages 6 to 8 months, largely driven by poor dietary diversity.

Working through a Country Strategic Plan (2017-2021) jointly with the Government of Zimbabwe and partners, while preserving its humanitarian response capacity, WFP is promoting a shift towards resilience-building efforts, which includes emphasis on reducing stunting, strengthening social protection systems, and empowering smallholder farmers.
WFP has been present in Zimbabwe since 2002.

Operational Updates

  • With the end of the Lean Season Assistance (LSA) programme in April, and the gradual arrival of the 2018 harvest, WFP commenced the 2018 cycle of the Productive Assets Creation Programme (PAC) in 11 Districts in May. Based on an analysis of the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) findings in the targeted districts, and to maximize coverage and impact of the programme, WFP reduced the monthly ration size for PAC to 60% of the daily kilocalorie needs, to complement other sources of food intake. In preparation for implementation, WFP organized both national and district-level inception workshops for partners and Government Departments, and conducted the registration of programme beneficiaries.

  • Resource constraints have prompted WFP to discontinue its stunting prevention programme in Mutasa, which is expected to resume in August 2018, or well before the peak of the 2018/19 lean season, if additional resources are received.

  • Since December 2017, WFP in partnership with FAO, AGRITEX and other partners have provided support to smallholder farmers to grow drought tolerant small grains in Mudzi,
    Rushinga, Mt. Darwin and Mwenezi. In May, WFP together with partners participated in field days conducted in all 4 districts aimed at showcasing results of the support and to share experiences amongst the farmers and provide technical support.

  • WFP plans to procure 1,200 mt of sorghum produced locally by smallholders through competitive tendering as part of the broader goal of stimulating markets as well as the production and consumption of nutritious drought tolerant crops locally.

  • In partnership with UNFPA and the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), in May, WFP provided food support to 2,201 pregnant women in maternity waiting homes who are at risk of pregnancy related complications.

  • WFP Zimbabwe, in partnership with the WFP China Centre of Excellence, working through the South-South Cooperation initiative, is leveraging China’s experience of empowering smallholder farmers, post-harvest loss management and rural transformation to replicate these achievements in Zimbabwe. As part of this initiative, WFP has supported staff from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture & Rural Resettlement to attend trainings in China, with the most recent trip undertaken in May 2018. The trainings will complement WFP’s efforts in postharvest interventions implemented in partnership with the ministry