By Michael Gwarisa
Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Honorable July Moyo says government has set aside 71,500 metric tonnes of grain to distribute across food-insecure households during obtaining the lean season.
Food situation data estimates that about 2,715,717 people will be in need of food assistance during the peak hunger period, between January and March 2024. The provinces with the highest food insecurity levels are Matabeleland North (42 percent) down from 58 percent from the previous year, Mashonaland Central (31 percent) and Masvingo province (30 percent). The most affected Districts being Binga (62 percent), Kariba (60 percent), Mt Darwin (57 percent), Umguza (54 percent), Mbire (5 percent) and Mangwe (50 percent).
Briefing Journalists this morning, Hon Moyo said they were on top of the situation and ready to distribute food in the areas experiencing food insecurity.
We are looking at 2.7 Million people, this is a percentage of 26 percent and its down from 38 percent which was recorded in the previous year because there was an improvement in our production of food in this country,” said Minister Moyo.
He added that the grain to be distributed during the lean season is not being imported but coming from the country’s strategic reserves.
“We have allocated 71,500 tonnes which the Ministry of Agriculture through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has already assured us is there for our distribution.”
The Government of Zimbabwe conducted a rural livelihood assessment in 2023 under the guidance of the Food and Nutrition Council. The Zimbabwe livelihood assessment is a scientific analysis that assess food security, health, social protection, gender and educational situation of rural households. According to the Zimbabwe Livelihood Assessment Committee Report of 2023 (ZimLAC) the number of food insecure people in Zimbabwe for the 2023/24 consumption decreased to 26% from 38 percent when compared with the previous year.
“The distribution of food starts this January to the most affected households up to March 2024. However, Government will continue to respond to distress calls as per need. To achieve this, the Ministry requires 71 570mt of cereal to cater for the three months. A total of ZWL$43.7 billion is required for the three months to cover costs of registration of beneficiaries, grain transportation and distribution,” added Minister Moyo.
He said the Ministry works together with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development in sourcing for the food. The Ministry of Lands has the mandate to ensure that there is sufficient cereal supply in the local GMB depot. The Government makes use of the Strategic Grain Reserve to cater for the neediest beneficiaries.
“Development Partners are there to compliment Government efforts in providing social protection to its citizens. To this end, Government is jointly working with WFP and its cooperating partners. Government will cover fifty-six districts and WFP will cover four districts (Buhera, Mangwe, Mwenezi and Chivi). The operations of these organizations are monitored by the Government and the report on what they are doing in a particular province.”
Meanwhile, commenting on the possible impact of the Einino weather conditions on the country’s food security situation, Minister Moyo said it was too early to conclude whether the Elino will have an impact on the food situation in the country.
“The Elnino impact will only be felt after May and June in terms of food insecurity. We will be able to know exactly whether this Elnino has affected food production and to what extent. Exercises will also be with begin food assessment, crop assessment by the ministry of agriculture and they will be looking through to see the impact the impact of this Elinino. So we cannot predict right now how much we will be needing as a result of the Elinino.
“As you can see, if people plant very well, we can defeat the impact of Elinino. If we plant short varieties of crops, we can overcome Elinino. In very dry areas, if we plant traditional small grains, we can defeat the impact of Elinino. In some parts of the country we will be able to pull through,” said Minister Moyo.
However, Elinino has many impacts as floods and heavy rains in some areas this can even have health and food insecure implications. It can also lead to the spread of Cholera and all the impacted countries will have to chip in in order to overcome that shocks.
He further said government has some measures in place to ensure that communities are resilient to the effects of drought and flooding. The introduction of the drought tolerant crops that are distributed under the Presidential input can help mitigate the drought effects. Communities in drought areas encouraged to plant drought resistant crops. In addition, the Government encourages households to practice the Pfumvudza/Intwasa concept which tends to be producing good results. The Government also has projects that can also improve the food security of household. These include resuscitation of irrigation schemes, drilling of boreholes, community gardens and Income Generating Project’s.
