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Food
security programming through collaboration
Consortium
for the Southern Africa Food Security Emergency (C-SAFE)
July 28, 2004
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/109100540729.htm
C-SAFE Zimbabwe
Members: World Vision, CARE, Catholic Relief Services
Working in: Bulawayo, Chirumanzu, Gweru, Gutu, Chegutu, Kadoma,
Gwanda, Beitbridge, Bubi, Bulilimamangwe
Food Distributed
(April-June 2004) 10,292.38 MT Beneficiaries (April-June 2004) 931,412
C-SAFE Zimbabwe
recently undertook an End Use Monitoring (EUM) assessment of Food
For Assets projects to ascertain demographics and vulnerabilities
of FFA participants, determine whether work norms are adhered to,
understand beneficiary perception of project selection and implementation,
and measure beneficiary satisfaction with the project. In the May
pilot round, 104 beneficiaries were interviewed. C-SAFE found that
the average household size was 5.9 members, and that 83% of workers
were female and 55% of workers were household heads. Main expenses
were found to be education and food.
Community gardens
were the most common FFA activity undertaken, and community assemblies
were mostly responsible for the activities selected. Beneficiary
satisfaction was very high (96% - 100%) on a variety of FFA aspects.
End Use Monitoring
is also used by C-SAFE Zimbabwe to measure the impact of food aid
on targeted beneficiary groups, as well as beneficiary satisfaction
with the food aid process. Recent beneficiary interviews revealed
that C-SAFE food aid has ensured that the health of chronically
ill beneficiaries is improving; beneficiaries undertake less casual
work and spend more time working on their own land than those not
receiving food; orphans are now attending school and fewer households
are selling productive/household assets to buy food.
Food for
assets
World Vision has commenced a number of Food For Assets (FFA) projects
in Beitbridge, including 38 vegetable gardens that will utilize
several recently rehabilitated water points. The small gardens are
owned by an average of 15-20 households, and 83% of the FFA participants
are women. Selling vegetables is a major income source to over 15%
of the benefiting households.
Care
Food For Assets projects include construction of drainage basins,
irrigation systems, feeder road rehabilitation, gully reclamation
and rehabilitation of small dams, as well as food security projects
such as nutrition gardens, fruit plantations and orchards. FFA beneficiaries
in Chirumanzu, Gweru and Gutu continue to participate in sensitisation
sessions on the FFA process. CARE report that between October 2003
and May 2004, 79.4 % of FFA participants were women.
Learning
In an effort to observe and learn from the FFA projects implemented
by CARE, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has visited a number of
CARE FFA projects, including feeder road repairs, dam rehabilitation
and community gardens. CRS commended the high motivation of participating
communities, as well as the range of projects they had seen, particularly
those that enhance community food security and protect the environment.
CRS also noted that district officials showed enthusiasm and commitment
to the implementation of FFA activities in the district, despite
initial reluctance last year. CRS were impressed by how CARE had
mobilized communities to bring and use their own tools such as wheelbarrows,
buckets, hoes, picks and shovels. CRS reported that intensive training
for staff and FFA participants, team-work among CARE staff and strong
coordination with local leaders, local government and government
departments has enabled CARE and communities to implement a large
number of FFA projects.
HIV &
AIDS
HIV/AIDS related poems and drama are performed prior to food distributions
in most CARE districts. In Chirumanzu District, these activities
are reaching over 700 people at each FDP, of which 61.2 % are between
15 and 45 years old. CARE is also involved in condom distributions
(donated by the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council) and provides
education sessions on the proper use and disposal of condoms. Staff
note a greater degree of openness among beneficiaries following
the sensitisations, with many beneficiaries disclosing their HIV
status.
A C-SAFE HIV
Working Group has met for the first time in Zimbabwe. Group goals
have been developed and members are vigorously pursuing avenues
of integrating HIV and AIDS initiatives into existing programs.
Health
A three-month no cost extension has been approved by USAID Office
of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) for the CRS hospital feeding
program, which will continue through 30th September 2004. Using
C-SAFE food 12,594 children between 6 and 59 months were fed at
90 hospitals throughout Zimbabwe between May and June 2004. CRS
also provided food for 13,700 chronically ill patients as part of
the program.
Market Assistance
Pilot Program - MAPP
The MAPP is designed to reach the urban poor in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
with a low-cost maize alternative – sorghum - by utilizing existing
commercial channels. The project, created by C-SAFE, with the support
of USAID in Zimbabwe, represents the first time that aid agencies
have sought to boost food availability in existing commercial markets.
April - June
Market Update:
Household incomes continued their upward trend in April while cereal
prices remained stable (Z$10,500 per 10-Kg bag of maize meal). Demand
for MAPP sorghum meal continued to decline in the month of May.
Maize meal remained available in all shops throughout the month
at April’s price. Bread maintained its availability in the shops
around Bulawayo in May but the price began to edge up, reflective
of dwindling wheat grain stocks at millers and bakeries. The percentage
of low-income households purchasing MAPP sorghum in May was over
71% while the program average throughout its lifetime of sales is
74%. This demonstrates a strong acceptance of the product even though
it remains a less-preferred product in the cereal market when maize
meal and bread are available. In June, demand for MAPP sorghum meal
increased for the first time in four months, more than doubling
the previous month’s sales. The change was the result of a 266%
increase in the price the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) charges its
customers (millers) for maize grain. The immediate impact was an
increase in the retail price of maize meal from Z$10,500/10-KG bag
to Z$20,000/10-KG bag. MAPP sorghum meal sells at a significant
discount, Z$6,000/10-KG bag (and Z$3,000/5-KG bag), which accounts
for its increase in popularity.
Accompanying
the retail price increase was a reduction in the amount of grain
being released by the GMB, which decreased the amount of maize meal
stocked in stores. its customers (millers) for maize grain. The
immediate impact was an increase in the retail price of maize meal
from Z$10,500/10-KG bag to Z$20,000/10-KG bag. MAPP sorghum meal
sells at a significant discount, Z$6,000/10-KG bag (and Z$3,000/5-KG
bag), which accounts for its increase in popularity. Accompanying
the retail price increase was a reduction in the amount of grain
being released by the GMB, which decreased the amount of maize meal
stocked in stores.
From the
field – MAPP
As the MAPP program proposes to expand into Gweru and Chitunguiza,
beneficiaries in Bulawayo are adamant that the pilot program provided
critical assistance to the low-income communities of Bulawayo.
"We really
like the sorghum. Actually, for us it is better than the white maize,"
says Hilda Mambeva (above) of Pumula, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second
largest city.
Hilda’s father
is employed as a security guard and her mother augments the family’s
income through cross-border trade. Hilda and her four siblings have
been buying the sorghum since its introduction to her local grocery
store last year. The household uses the cereal to make porridge
and "sadza".
Like many other
MAPP customers, Hilda states that before the introduction of the
low-cost sorghum, her family was finding it difficult to afford
three meals each day. Maize was scarce and priced beyond the reach
of most families.
"Since
the introduction of the sorghum, my family and I can now afford
to have at least three meals a day. It makes such a difference to
my family," says Hilda.
Hilda’s hopes
that the MAPP sorghum will be on store shelves for an extended period
as it has provided her family with a low-cost alternative staple.
"Our fears are that the program will finish, and with the way
things are going, most families will have nothing to eat,"
said Hilda.
As part of the
proposed MAPP expansion, the Bulawayo program will continue to feed
the urban poor, reaching around 533,000 people every day during
the hungry season.
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