LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
The World Food Programme (WFP) together with its partners will assist 75 000 people in six districts under its food for assets programme meant to strengthen community resilience.
Speaking at the android tablets handover ceremony to small-scale farmers and extension officers in the capital Tuesday, WFP programme head Roberto Borlini told the delegates that the WFP is moving towards reducing food insecurity in Zimbabwe.
“WFP and Agricultural Rural Development and Advisory Service (ARDAS) will collaborate on the Food for Assets programme. The food for assets programme in 2023 will assist 75,000 people in six districts namely Kariba, Rushinga, Masvingo, Zvishavane, Mwenezi and Chiredzi,” Borlini said.
He said the participants will work on community assets like nutrition gardens, digging of boreholes and equipping them with solar pumping systems to improve their resilience to shocks.
In exchange, the participants will receive 5 758 metric tonnes of food over the next six months.
The development comes as the WFP transferred a total of 635 Android devices that will be utilised nationwide by ARDAS extension staff to implement activities in coordination with the World Food Programme.
He said these devices will be used by ARDAS extension staff to perform a number of different tasks in support of rural development activities. They will facilitate market monitoring activities.
“ARDAS staff will be able to gather crucial information throughout the year from rural and urban markets in Zimbabwe, monitoring prices and availability of different commodities.
“The information will be shared widely with government and development partners through a variety of platforms, like the National Cash Working Group and the Food and Livelihoods Security Cluster, to support programme planning,” Borlini said.
“Thanks to these devices, WFP and ARDAS officers based at the ward level will strengthen their partnership, as real-time information will be shared to build and rehabilitate assets and train smallholder farmers.
“This will allow scalability of the new resilience approach and give the government the ability to replicate the programme.”
He said WFP will continue working with the government, local communities, civil society and the private sector in supporting the needs of those most vulnerable in Zimbabwe to achieve a Zimbabwe with zero hunger.
ARDAS extension officers will be able to receive relevant and location-specific climate information through the gadgets and disseminate the information to farmers to improve decision-making on the crops and livestock options for the season.
This effort will complement WFP’s approach to Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) for community planning of agricultural activities where we combine historical climate data and forecasts with farmers’ knowledge of what works in their own context.
“This donation will also improve the piloting of ARDAS Knowledge Centres at National and Sub-national levels to enhance e-extension and e-marketing.
“The devices will support the development of an e-commerce platform that includes various stakeholders along food value chains such as producers, extension staff, aggregators, transporters and buyers.
“This donation complements ARDAS existing investments in District Agricultural Centres of Excellence in 4,” Borlini said.
