The Government has delivered food supplies to seven million people who are food insecure and in need of assistance throughout the country.
Speaking at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Environment, Disaster Prevention and Management in Harare yesterday, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo outlined the coordinated efforts undertaken by the Government in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) to mitigate the food deficit in the country.
The meeting was a response to the regional and domestic appeal for assistance as part of resource mobilisation to offset the country's food deficit.
It was also attended by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, who is the chairperson of the Cabinet committee, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka, WFP and United Nations Climate Crisis officials.
Considering the poor performance of the 2023/24 rainfall season, President Mnangagwa, in April this year declared the El Nino induced drought a State of Disaster in line with Section 27(1) of the Civil Protection Act.
Minister Moyo said following the Livelihood Assessment Programme which was conducted to ascertain the figures of the population at risk, the Government had rolled out interventions to assist more than 7 million people who are food insecure, both in rural and urban areas.
"We have done our logistics planning, and we did our assessment which produced 6,1 million people in the rural areas and 1,7 million in the urban areas. This was done in January. It was a community-based assessment, and we have over 35 000 village heads who helped to indicate those who are in need. We used the assessment to deliver the food as they are the ones with knowledge of their people meaning that we were close to reality," he said.
"We have so far delivered the first three-months of food supply to 6,1 million people, meaning we are above 90 percent of delivery in all the villages".
In his welcome remarks, Minister Garwe indicated that the meeting was convened against the backdrop of the appeal for humanitarian Assistance in view of the El Nino Induced drought in the country. He
said together with the UN, the country launched a Drought Flash Appeal to raise US$429 million to enhance food security.
"The Humanitarian Appeal for Assistance thus seeks to raise a total of US$3.3 billion. As mentioned earlier, we came together with the UN Family and launched the Drought Flash Appeal which seeks to raise US$429.3 million from humanitarian partners to assist close to 3.1 million people, thereby contributing 13 percent of the national total appeal requirements," said Minister Garwe.
He said the appeals were hinged on critical components including search and rescue, mitigation and resilience building.
"(Under) the Domestic and International Appeal for Assistance, Government focuses on three critical components, which are search and rescue, mitigation and resilience building, targeting sectors including Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security, Protection, Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Education, Environment and Natural Resources, Energy, Macro, Small and Medium Enterprise".
Minister Garwe said the Sub-Saharan region was facing acute hunger as a result of the El Nino induced drought which led to Zimbabwe receiving normal to below normal rainfall.
"In the worst of cases, some parts of the country received very low precipitation levels and this has indeed affected critical sectors of the economy namely; Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security, Health, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Hydrology, Energy, Education, Social Protection and Wildlife," he said.
"Under the Food Deficit Mitigation Programme, the Government is targeting 7.7 million people in both rural and urban areas who were projected to be food insecure. Of these, 6 million are in the rural areas.
"To give impetus, the Government has proceeded, with effect from July 2024, to introduce a duty waiver on the importation of rice and potato seed as well as on importation of maize, rice and cooking oil by households. While on the other hand, importation of genetically modified raw materials for stock feed, is being done under strict supervised milling and distribution".
Minister Garwe highlighted the critical role of the UN and other partners in mitigating the effects of drought.
"We acknowledge the positive responses we are receiving from well-wishing partners and stakeholders in our time of need. They have expressed solidarity with the Government and people of Zimbabwe.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"As always, the United Nations has been at the forefront and we sincerely appreciate the sterling effort. Indeed, this mission to explore opportunities for resource mobilisation and partnerships is further testament of the UN's commitment to this cause," said Minister Garwe.
On his part, Minister Masuka explained Government intervention efforts.
He said the winter crop production under irrigation would augment food relief with an expected surplus of 240 000 tonnes of wheat.
"The country is expecting a surplus of 240 000t of wheat following the winter planting. Potatoes and maize crops are being grown as part of efforts to augment food security. Zimbabwe is at the epicentre of drought with the current strategic grain reserves standing at 300 000 tonnes," said Minister Masuka.
WFP assistant executive director Ms Valerie Guarnieri commended efforts made by the Government to fight hunger in the country.
"I want to commend the Government for efforts that we have heard from the responsible ministries, this is commendable," said Ms Guarnieri.
