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Thupeyo Muleya

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) has availed  £3.95 million (US$5 million) to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to be used on its  2018/19 Lean Season Assistance programme in Zimbabwe.

In a statement on Thursday, WFP’s Country Director Mr Eddie Rowe said the contribution will help to provide cash-based food assistance to some 97,000 highly food insecure people in rural areas, and to another 19,000 in a Harare suburb.

“We are grateful for this timely commitment, which will allow us to provide immediate, much-needed assistance to some of the most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe,” he said.

“More than 2, 4 million rural Zimbabweans will face acute food insecurity at the peak of the current lean season (January – March 2019), according to the 2018 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) report produced by the Government of Zimbabwe.

“That number is likely to increase with the anticipated late start to the rainy season and the imminent prospect of another El Niño, which is expected to bring higher than normal temperatures and a more prolonged dry spell”.

He said the fund will benefit districts including Mutoko, Nyanga, Nkayi, Beitbridge and Umzingwane.

He said the benefiting areas were yet to recover from the devastating effects of a 2015/16 El Niño-induced drought that affected over 4 million people.

Mr Rowe said most food-insecure families in such areas are heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

DFID’s head for Zimbabwe and South Africa Ms Annabel Gerry said, “The

UK will assist 97,000 people in five rural districts with three to four monthly cash transfers between December and March. This builds on work already done by the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF) in 18 districts.

“UK Aid will also boost our ongoing support to 43,500 of the ZRBF-assisted farmers to prepare for the current agricultural season, which is likely to be drier than usual. In addition, recognising the challenge of food insecurity in urban areas, the UK will also provide funding for four monthly cash transfers to 19,000 food insecure people in Epworth”.

She added that promoting gender equality was one important feature of the programme and that the cash transfers will particularly empower women giving them a choice on how to use the money to their family’s best advantage.

She said the DFID-funded transfers will support 19,000 especially vulnerable people in Epworth, a Harare suburb characterised by high levels of food insecurity and unemployment.