Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
ABOUT 160 000 people in Matabeleland South Province are set to benefit under the Government-funded drought relief programme which is set to be rolled out in January.
According to the 2023 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac), the number of food insecure people in Zimbabwe for 2023/2024 consumption decreased to 26 percent from 38 percent.
Therefore during the peak hunger period from January to March 2024, about 2,7 million people will need food assistance compared to 3,8 million from the previous year.
Matabeleland South has about 160 848 food insecure people compared to 166 690 in the previous year.
Last week, Government announced that vulnerable and food-insecure households will have access to grain as part of the Second Republic’s response strategy in the fight against hunger across the country.
The assistance of food-insecure people shows the commitment of the Second Republic to ensuring no one and no place is left behind.
Further, the Government has declared that no one will die of hunger since there are adequate stocks of grain from previous successful cropping seasons.
The grain support scheme is a result of positive yields the country has been witnessing after introducing the Sustainable Intensive Conservation Agriculture Model, dubbed Pfumvudza/Intwasa during the 2020/2021 summer season.
Matabeleland South provincial social welfare officer, Mr Criswell Nyakudya said the province has a grain requirement of 1 608 metric tonnes per month and an oil requirement of 120 636 litres.
Insiza District has the highest number of food insecure population with 36 514 followed by Gwanda with 35 514 and Bulilima with 31 375.
Mr Nyakudya assured the province that there had enough grain to cater for all those who were registered under the drought relief programme.
“Government and World Food Programme (WFP) will target at least 80 percent of the food insecure population. Government remains committed to ensuring that no one dies of hunger and will respond accordingly to distress calls,” he said.
“Where possible, food distribution will be coupled with food for asset or productive community work.”
Mr Nyakudya said in Matabeleland South, the drought relief programme will target seven districts, six by Government and one, which is Mangwe District, will benefit under WFP.
“Drought relief committees are in place at the provincial and district level to facilitate the programme. The committees comprise various stakeholders that include traditional leaders,” he said.
Mr Nyakudya said food distribution has to be collaborated and coordinated under a multi-sectoral approach to ensure effectiveness.
He said food would be distributed to all food-insecure households transparently and efficiently.
Mr Nyakudya said beneficiaries are not supposed to pay for transportation of their grain. He said 105 graduate interns will be recruited as data collectors that will operate in the province.
Chief Bango from Mangwe District said it comes as a huge relief that the drought relief programme will soon be rolled out as people needed assistance.
“The situation is terrible in the communities and to make it worse this farming season we will be receiving little rain. Usually, by this time people would have started getting some of their relishes from their fields and in January those who would have planted early would be eating their first maize,” he said.
“This time around the rains came late and people were still trying to recover from last year’s poor farming season. We are glad that the Government working with its partners has come in to assist the people.”
Chief Hwadalala from Gwanda said there is a need for a review of the vulnerable households early next year as more people were likely to need food by then.
Recent assessment reports have shown that food-insecure households have largely been in the drier agro-ecological regions while the majority of the food-insecure households have not fully embraced the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa method.
@DubeMatutu
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