Story by Chikomborero Kanyemba
GOVERNMENT and the World Food Programme (WFP) have signed a Letter of Understanding, as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s social protection programmes.
The Second Republic is collaborating with various development partners which has culminated in Government and WFP signing a Letter of Understanding to strengthen the already existing social protection programmes.
The UN-WFP Country Strategic Plan for Zimbabwe is grounded in the National Development Strategy One and global commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Speaking to ZBC News on the sidelines of the signing, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Simon Masanga said, “Finally today we were able to sign the letter of Understanding between WFP and Government of Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe carries out a number of Social protection programmes in conjunction with WFP the biggest one being The Land Season Support a programme where they give cash and food to vulnerable communities in this country.
“We work together and identify the targets that are now contained within the NDS1, when we talk of NDS1 its an inclusive document which incorporates organisations like WFP the work that they do is reported through the NDS1 reporting channels.’’
The Second Republic and UN-WFP have been working closely to ensure citizens are food secure and equipped with business ideas to sustain livelihoods as explained by WFP Representative and Country Director in Zimbabwe, Ms Francesca Erdelmann.
“The WFP is mostly concerned with food security and nutrition well-being, so the people in the community that we work with are those who are struggling to meet their own food security so in general they are communities in Zimbabwe who are not able to benefit from the investments that have been made so far,” she said.
She added, “We work with the ministry of Public Service and Ministry of Lands and Agriculture to address the challenges and also to build the capacity to produce nutritious food and access to markets to be able to establish businesses make a living.”
The WFP has been complementing government efforts by providing support to more than 16 000 refugees as well as relief assistance to floods and drought-prone areas.
