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CWS appeal: Zimbabwe food aid

October 30, 2007

Ongoing humanitarian problems in Zimbabwe continue to prompt concern and needed responses by the international community to help alleviate serious food shortages. These shortages are affecting a large segment of the population of the southern African nation.

RESPONSE: Church World Service is supporting efforts of partner agencies and fellow Action by Churches Together (ACT) International members Christian Care (CCARE) and Lutheran Development Services (LDS).

This appeal is two-pronged as it seeks to make food immediately available to vulnerable households, at the same time building their capacity to resuscitate their crop farming activities in a sustainable manner. The scope of the program activities include:

Food distribution to vulnerable households;

HIV and AIDS mitigation initiatives which include home-based care, provision of psycho-social support and supplementary feeding;

Distribution of crop inputs and farmer training on conservation farming;

Establishment of nutrition gardens and training on garden management;

Distribution of small livestock for both food and income generation;

Community training.

The emergency component of the program will be implemented over a period of five months from November 2007 to April 2008, while the recovery component will be implemented over a period of twelve months starting in November 2007.

The focus will be on the southern Zimbabwe districts of Chivi, Mwenezi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Gwanda, and Beitbridge, rural areas affected by drought and populated by subsistence farmers. General economic decline, inadequacy of rainfall, and infertile soils in the districts have resulted in poor crop harvests, which affect the food security situation in the areas.

CWS-supported efforts focus on poor and vulnerable households.

Among the components of the response:

Food Aid: Efforts will be made to stave off severe malnourishment for 51,434 people who are the inhabitants of the targeted areas. The food basket per person will include 10 kg of maize meal, 300 ml of cooking oil and 1 kg of beans per person per month. In addition, HIV- and AIDS-symptomatic persons will each receive 10 kg of corn-soya blend per month.

Crop Input Distribution: Crop inputs comprising seed and fertilizers will be distributed to 6,484 households. A seed pack will include 10 kgs of open pollinated varieties -- maize enough for one acre for both consumption and seed production and 5 kg to 10 kgs of millet and sorghum seed per household. The project will proffer adequate training to ensure that farmers utilize techniques for seed production.

Community-based Gardens: Eight community gardens will be established in twelve months under the program. The project will provide all fencing material requirements to protect the gardens from destruction of crops by animals. Live fencing will also be established for all the gardens for sustainability. Fencing materials will include barbed wire, pig netting wire, as well as treated poles. The produce from gardens will be a major source of nutritious food for those infected with HIV and battling AIDS.

Small Livestock Distribution: Small livestock comprising rabbits and guinea fowls will be distributed to vulnerable households on the principle of pass-on-the-gift. That will be done as a means of livelihood, as well as creating a source of meat for the poor households in the project areas.

HIV- and AIDS-Mitigation Initiatives: This component will be comprised of activities which seek to alleviate the impact of the HIV and AIDS by proffering adequate training to both primary and secondary caregivers, providing requisite home-based care kits, providing education that mitigates stigmatization through awareness, and providing psycho-social support to the infected and affected households.

The program will also focus on the care and support for the orphaned and vulnerable children in the program area. It will provide supplementary feeding for HIV- and AIDS-symptomatic persons. This part of the program will lessen the burden of the poverty-stricken affected households by providing supplementary vitamin and protein fortified corn-soya blend at a ration of 10 kg per person per month. A total of 2,962 beneficiaries are set to benefit from the program.

Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be made online, sent to your denomination, or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: Zimbabwe Food Aid (Appeal # 641-W).

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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