WFP Intensifies Support For Zimbabwe As El Niño Drought Causes Severe Food Shortages
The World Food Programme (WFP), which is part of the United Nations, says it is working harder to help the government of Zimbabwe deal with the serious food shortages in the country. This is because of a drought caused by the El Niño weather pattern.
The drought has caused crops and livestock to do very badly, leaving millions of people without enough food. This has created a humanitarian crisis.
Reports from the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC) show that the 2024 maize harvest was much lower than the 2.2 million tonnes needed.
This puts over 5.9 million people in rural areas and 1.7 million in cities at risk of not having enough food during the lean season.
In response, the WFP is providing emergency food and nutrition help to households affected in Zimbabwe.
Francesca Erdelmann, WFP Zimbabwe Representative and Country Director, said the WFP’s Lean Season Assistance programme, working with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare, will give important food assistance to people in rural areas.
The WFP is also giving cash to people in cities to help them afford food. Said Erdelmann:
The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Replica payout of over USD 6 million provides a significant boost to our efforts, emphasizing the importance of drought and disaster risk insurance.
This payout allows us to provide timely assistance to over 255,000 people in need across three districts, demonstrating the critical role that insurance mechanisms play in mitigating the effects of climate-related disasters.
WFP is working with the Government to provide services to support the national supply chain management for efficient delivery of cereals to targeted districts for the food deficit mitigation strategy (FDMS) while simultaneously building the capacities of involved government counterpart institutions.
Most recently, we managed the movement of some 23,000 MT of fertiliser for the Government from ports in Europe to depots in Zimbabwe.
Erdelmann said the WFP is thankful to the donors who have given money to help with the response to the El Niño drought.
She also said the WFP is working on repairing water sources and livelihoods (ways for people to earn a living), encouraging farming methods that are good for the climate and supporting community projects to improve infrastructure.
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