The Sunday Mail
Online Correspondent
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun cash disbursements to urban households as part of its Urban Social Assistance programme, which is being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).
The support is targeted at vulnerable families in eight urban areas across Zimbabwe struggling to meet their daily needs due to the fallout of the coronavirus.
The programme is covering people living in Gokwe, Redcliff, Kwekwe, Ruwa, Chinhoyi, Buhera, Chipinge and Chegutu.
The financial assistance from USAid allows WFP to provide support to over 103 700 people with monthly cash-based assistance equivalent to US$12 each ($976 local currency), enabling them to meet almost two-thirds of their daily food requirements for the next six months.
Covid-19 is aggravating Zimbabwe’s already severe climate- and recession-induced food security crisis.
In urban areas, where ongoing lockdown measures have triggered a massive loss of livelihoods, the number of food-insecure people is expected to rise to 3,3 million, from 2,2 million, as the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic become more pronounced.
“The United States remains committed to the people of Zimbabwe. In addition to the US$10 million we have provided to support the cash transfers for over 103 700 vulnerable Zimbabweans in eight urban areas, we are providing over US$60 million to support food distributions for nearly one million people in rural areas during the current lean season. During the pandemic, we will continue to prioritise our critical health and humanitarian assistance activities,” said USAid Zimbabwe mission director, Mr Art Brown.
“Today we have expanded our urban social assistance programme to ease the challenges faced by urban communities, which have been worsened by Covid-19. We are grateful to USAid for its support in such a time as this,” said Francesca Erdelmann, WFP Zimbabwe representative and country director.
