President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa held a bilateral engagement with World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, Cindy McCain, on the sidelines of the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9).
Briefing journalists after the closed-door meeting, McCain said discussions centred on strengthening the partnership between Zimbabwe and the WFP in supporting communities.
She noted that the talks also focused on ensuring that Zimbabweans enhance food security and resilience through improved farming techniques.
WFP provides food and cash transfers to communities affected by seasonal food insecurity, economic shocks and climate extremes in rural areas, cities and the Tongogara Refugee Settlement.
The organization also supports national institutions and civil society in improving delivery capacities for social protection programmes.
Zimbabwe, a landlocked, low-income, food-deficit country in Southern Africa, is grappling with the effects of El Niño, exacerbating its semi-arid climate’s variable nature.
An estimated 6 million people are expected to be food insecure in Zimbabwe during the peak of the 2024-2025 lean season from January to March.
In urban areas, high inflation, rising food prices and fluctuating exchange rates have affected families’ purchasing power and eroded their savings. 1.7 million people (35 percent of the urban population) will be food insecure in 2024.
The 2023 Global Hunger Index classified Zimbabwe’s situation as serious. The country also ranked 159 out of 193 in the 2022 Human Development Index.
Factors such as widespread poverty, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, limited employment opportunities and recurrent climate-induced shocks contribute to food insecurity.
Zwnews
