Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
THE African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a US$25 million grant for Zimbabwe to protect rural communities hit hard by climate change and strengthen food security.
The funds will finance the Zimbabwe Agricultural Climate Resilience and Vulnerability Reduction Project (ACRES), which runs from 2026 to 2030.
The project is expected to revitalise smallholder agriculture, develop grazing areas and water resources, and catalyse private sector investment.
ACRES will be rolled out in Matabeleland South and Masvingo, the country’s most climate-exposed provinces, targeting Gutu, Gwanda, Matobo, Mangwe and Bulilima districts.
The regions are characterised by large livestock populations and extreme vulnerability to erratic, low and declining rainfall.
The project will directly benefit 92 500 vulnerable rural smallholder farmers, with at least 50 percent being women and 20 percent youth.
These communities face food insecurity, recurrent droughts and limited economic opportunities that drive poverty and irregular migration.
An estimated 200 000 people in surrounding areas will also benefit from improved infrastructure, better food security, nutrition and economic stability.
ACRES is set to create 320 full-time jobs and 2 100 seasonal jobs across crop and livestock value chains.
AfDB country manager for Zimbabwe, Eyerusalem Fasika, said the investment represents a critical intervention to improve food and nutrition.
“This investment represents a critical intervention to build climate resilience, reduce vulnerability and improve food and nutrition security in Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable rural communities,” said Fasika.
AfDB director of agriculture and agro-industry, Martin Fregene, said the initiative aligns with the bank’s four cardinal points.
“The project will enhance the adaptive capacity, promote sustainable economic opportunities, and strengthen rural communities’ resilience to climate change, within the target areas,” Fregene said.
AfDB has long been a cornerstone partner in Zimbabwe’s rural development journey, making sustained investments that have progressively reduced food insecurity and poverty.
ACRES deepens that commitment and signals the Government’s resolve to put climate-smart agriculture and agricultural infrastructure investment at the centre of its development agenda.
