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Ashley Phiri, [email protected] 

GOVERNMENT has started the process of registering vulnerable urban households for the cash for cereal programme across the country, as part of efforts to cushion urbanites against the shocks of the El Nino-induced drought with about 60 000 families expected to benefit in Bulawayo. 

The programme, spearheaded by the Department of Social Services in collaboration with development partners, is being rolled out across wards 7 to 29 in Bulawayo. It is in response to the severe food insecurity caused by the El Niño-induced drought. The programme follows a report by the Zimbabwe Livelihood Assessment Committee (ZimLAC), which revealed that 41 percent of the urban population is food insecure due to the drought’s devastating effects on agriculture and water resources. 

This programme aims to provide financial assistance to urban residents, allowing them to purchase essential food items and cushion them against the harsh impacts of the drought. Following the El Niño-induced drought, which resulted in below-normal rainfall, many people have become food insecure. 

 

ZimLAC, a consortium comprising Government, UN agencies, NGOs, and international organisations, is chaired by the Food and Nutrition Council (FNC). Since its inception in 2001, ZimLAC, formerly the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC), has conducted multiple urban and rural livelihood assessments, providing crucial data to guide the nation’s response to food insecurity.

 In June, the Government announced plans to disburse cash to 1,7 million urban residents countrywide over the next nine months, to mitigate the hunger crisis. This decision came after President Mnangagwa declared the 2023-2024 agricultural season a State of National Disaster, as the El Niño-induced drought resulted in widespread crop failure and left many families in dire need of food aid.

The Government has already mobilised and distributed food aid to six million people in rural areas. The urban population, particularly in cities like Bulawayo, is set to receive aid through a cash transfer programme.  The United Nations has also issued a flash appeal for US$430 million to support the Government’s broader plan of mobilising US$2,2 billion for drought relief efforts.

In an interview yesterday, Bulawayo provincial social development officer, Ms Energy Mlambo said the Government has recruited enumerators to register urban households and assess the number of people requiring food assistance. 

She noted that 58 124 households in Bulawayo are expected to benefit from the programme.

The beneficiaries will be selected by the District Development Co-ordinating Committee (DDCC) and Provincial Development Co-ordinating Committee (PDCC).

 “The primary criteria used for considering beneficiaries will include households headed by chronically ill persons, those headed by people with disabilities, households headed by the elderly, child-headed households, large households caring for orphans as well as households headed by females,” said Ms Mlambo.

“The secondary criteria will consider those households with malnourished children, no fixed or temporary income and households with no petty trading or small business will also be considered. Households with no or low remittance from a kin in Zimbabwe or abroad also fall under the secondary criteria,”

Ms Mlambo said households engaged in negative coping strategies such as begging or those who have sold household assets due to hunger, borrowed money from a formal lender to buy food and households that have withdrawn children from school because of food shortages will also be considered under the secondary criteria.

The cash for cereal programme will provide cash transfers equivalent to the price of a 7,5kg bag of mealie-meal per person for September, increasing to 8,5kg per person from October to March 2025. Payments will be made via the One Money mobile money transfer system.

The enumeration process, which started on August 8 up to the end of this month, involves door-to-door registration in the designated wards.

Ms Mlambo emphasised that while registration is mandatory, it does not guarantee automatic selection for the programme.  According to the latest update, 299 135 individuals and 70  488 households were registered out of a total population of 536 208 and 141 764 households, respectively. Ultimately, 219 849 people and 58  124 households will benefit from this programme.

In the first phase of the Government’s Food Deficit Mitigation Strategy, more than 63 000 tonnes of grain were distributed to vulnerable and food-insecure individuals across the country, focusing on the rural population. Additionally, communities have been receiving grain from traditional leaders under the Zunde RaMambo/Isiphala Senkosi programme.

To support these relief efforts, the Government has received US$32 million from the Sovereign Insurance Fund as compensation for the crops destroyed by the El Niño-induced drought in 27 districts across Zimbabwe.