Zimbabwe
- 42%
- of Zimbabwe's population lives in extreme poverty
- 26.7%
- of children have stunted growth
- 15.2 million
- population
Zimbabwe, a landlocked, low-income, food-deficit country in Southern Africa, is grappling with the effects of El Ni?o, exacerbating its semi-arid climate¡¯s variable nature. in Zimbabwe during the peak of the 2024-2025 lean season from January to March.?
In urban areas, high inflation, rising food prices and fluctuating exchange rates have affected families¡¯ purchasing power and eroded their savings. 1.7 million people (35 percent of the urban population) will be food insecure in 2024.
The 2023 Global Hunger Index classified Zimbabwe's situation as serious. The country also ranked 159 out of 193 in the 2022 Human Development Index. Factors such as widespread poverty, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, limited employment opportunities and recurrent climate-induced shocks contribute to food insecurity.
What the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ is doing in Zimbabwe
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Social and humanitarian assistance
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ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳provides food and cash transfers to communities affected by seasonal food insecurity, economic shocks and climate extremes in rural areas, cities and the Tongogara Refugee Settlement. We also support national institutions and civil society in improving delivery capacities for social protection programmes.
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Urban resilience
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ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳empowers urban communities through transformative skills and provides 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. ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳also develops the digital skills of young people and links them to job markets.
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Sustainable rural resilience
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ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳supports 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, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳prioritises 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.
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Institutional capacities
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ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳is shifting from delivering food assistance to supporting the Government of Zimbabwe in strengthening its national social protection systems, responsiveness to future shocks and food systems development. This will allow national institutions to take the lead, with ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳offering expertise as required.
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Service provision
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Through bilateral services, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳provides tailored, on-demand supply chain services on a cost-recovery basis. These include storage, transport and procurement of 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.
Zimbabwe news releases
Go to pagePartners 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:
Find out more about the state of food security in Zimbabwe
Operations in Zimbabwe
Contacts
Office
Block 1 Arundel Office Park,Norfolk Road, Mount Pleasant
Harare
Zimbabwe
Phone
+263 086 770 00805