Harare — THE World Food Programme yesterday pledged to assist Zimbabwe in ensuring food security and supporting smallholder farmers.

WFP deputy executive director Mrs Sheila Sisulu revealed this after a closed- door meeting with President Mugabe at Zimbabwe House in Harare yesterday.

In an interview with journalists after the meeting, Mrs Sisulu said the WFP was prepared to partner Government in ensuring food security in the country.

"We will continue to target food insecure households. We as WFP have a pilot project where we are looking at how we can use our policy as an incentive to smallholder farmers by buying from them," she said.

Mrs Sisulu said the WFP was set to expand and diversify some of its programmes like school-based feeding and nutrition for pregnant women.

There was a shift in the WFP's policy with the organisation moving away from just being a provider of food aid to offering technical support to beneficiaries to ensure self-sufficiency.

Mrs Sisulu was accompanied by United Nations Resident Representative in Zimbabwe Mr Agostinho Zacarias.

The WFP official, who arrived in Zimbabwe on Monday, leaves today.

In January this year the WFP said about seven million Zimbabweans required food aid in February and March.

The WFP said it aimed to feed 5,1 million with the rest being taken care of by other donors.

Government has since last year been importing maize from neighbouring countries, notably Zambia, Malawi and South Africa, to ensure the people do not starve.

In November last year Government ordered 600 000 tonnes of maize worth US$270 million from the Sadc region to help cushion households from the effects of successive droughts.