Saving Lives
Changing Lives

Zimbabwe is a landlocked, low-income, food-deficit country in Southern Africa. During the 2022/23 lean season, more than 3.8 million people in rural areas faced food insecurity at peak. Zimbabwe’s predominantly semi-arid climate is extremely variable, with shifting rainfall patterns, droughts and floods exacerbated by substantial environmental challenges including land degradation, deforestation and inadequate water quantity and quality.

In Zimbabwean cities, high inflation, rising food prices and fluctuating exchange rates have devalued asset bases, savings and micro-enterprise produce at household level. In urban areas, 1.5 million people (29 percent of the urban population) will be cereal-insecure in 2023.

The 2022 Global Hunger Index classification classified the situation in Zimbabwe as ”serious” and the 13th worst globally. Zimbabwe was ranked 146 out of 191 countries in the 2021/22 Human Development Index, a composite measure used to quantify the average achievement on three basic dimensions of human development – a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Widespread poverty, HIV/AIDS, limited employment opportunities, liquidity challenges, recurrent climate-induced shocks and economic instability all contribute to limiting adequate access to food.

Under our Country Strategic Plan 2022-2026, the World Food Programme (WFP) supports social protection efforts, contributes to robust food systems, and assists vulnerable people. WFP supports and develops local capacities for emergency response, and expands the connections between food producers and consumers – to include social relationships and environmental management. Efforts continue to better anticipate future needs, improve data and forecasting, and strengthen livelihoods.

We are committed to supporting women’s well-being and economic empowerment, strengthening social cohesion, and engaging young people in pursuing economic opportunities in food value chains.

Concerned about the coexistence of overweight and undernutrition in Zimbabwe, WFP also promotes better diets and the consumption of nutritious foods. We also deploy digital technology to improve food security and systematically connect national strategies with local action.

WFP is contributing to the Government of Zimbabwe’s efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 on ending hunger, and SDG 17 on global partnerships. To this end, WFP is strengthening and forging new partnerships with government, NGOs, academia, donors, private sector, UN agencies and communities.

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WFP Zimbabwe | Country Strategic Plan 2022-2026

What the World Food Programme is doing in Zimbabwe

Social and humanitarian assistance
WFP provides food and cash transfers to communities affected by seasonal food insecurity, economic shocks and climate extremes, in rural areas, cities and at the Tongogara Refugee Camp. We support national institutions and civil society in areas including improving delivery capacities.
Urban resilience
WFP is empowering urban communities through transformative skills and the provision of tools and kits for income-generating activities. Work includes supporting climate-smart urban agriculture by producing high-value crops using hydroponics. Savings groups, targeting especially women and people with disabilities, mean people can borrow money to buy food or send their children to school. Due to limited employment opportunities, limited resources and inequalities in urban centres. WFP also develops digital skills of young people and links them to job markets.
Sustainable rural resilience
WFP supports rural farming communities in enhancing water and agriculture infrastructure, offering training on climate-smart farming techniques and promoting traditional small grain production, nutritionally diverse horticulture and animal husbandry. Interventions focus on enhanced entrepreneurial and financial literacy while working to improve nutrition and health awareness and addressing gender norms, social prejudice and other barriers to inclusive rural development. Agriculture risk insurance, savings and credit products are introduced to smallholder farmers as part of integrated resilience programming. Under its Food Assistance for Assets initiative, WFP prioritizes districts that are prone to droughts, supporting community-led creation of infrastructure and assets including nutritional gardens, orchards, community poultry, dam rehabilitations and rabbit houses, various environmental protection works and solar-powered boreholes.
Institutional capacities
WFP is shifting from the delivery of food assistance to supporting the Government of Zimbabwe in strengthening its national social protection systems and responsiveness to future shocks, as well as in the development of food systems. That will allow national institutions to take the lead, with WFP offering expertise as required.
Service provision
Through bilateral services, WFP provides tailored, on-demand supply chain services on a cost-recovery basis – these span from storage, to transport and procurement of both food and non-food items. During a humanitarian crisis and the activation of the WFP-led Logistics Cluster, we provide mandated common services to humanitarian actors, including information management, logistics coordination, and common logistics services for the uninterrupted supply of life-saving relief assistance.

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In focus

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Partners and donors

Achieving Zero Hunger is the work of many. Our work in the Zimbabwe is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:
Canada EU France Food and Nutrition Council (FNC) Germany

Operations in Zimbabwe

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Contacts

Office

Block 1 Arundel Office Park,Norfolk Road, Mount Pleasant
Harare
Zimbabwe

Phone
+263 4 799217-20 or +263 086 770 00805
Fax
+263 4 799219
Email
WFP.Harare@wfp.org
For media inquiries
WFP.Harare@wfp.org
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