Amid the pandemic, many homes have been left food insecure as hunger rose during the pandemic period. However, in an effort to help alleviate economic challenges due to Covid-19, a total of 326 000 members of the public are set to benefit from food vouchers.
In urban and peri-urban areas, most people have been quite unfortunate as the pandemic swept away 3 919 Zimbabweans. So far, efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic have impacted on many livelihoods.
As said by World Food Programme (WPF) in a statement, the European Union has contributed EURO 3 million towards the program targeted to reach at least one million people by end of 2021.
According to the statistics recorded in March 2021, food insecurity of vulnerable households increased by 12 percent since 2019. The statistics record also stated that 2,4 million urban dwellers are estimated to be cereal insecure.
These challenges have been due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures that have resulted in the widespread loss of urban livelihoods.
In a statement, WPF said: “The European Union has contributed EUR 3 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Zimbabwe. Funding will be used to support highly vulnerable people living in urban communities who are struggling to meet basic food needs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The contribution, made through the EU’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department (ECHO), will come in the form of cash assistance used to support beneficiaries of WFP’s Urban Social Assistance and Resilience Building Programme.”
“Recipients will receive USD 12 per person, per month via either e-voucher or Western Union cash transfer – to help cover basic food needs such as maize meal, cooking oil and salt. Urban populations face high living costs to obtain basic food needs, along with other critical items such as rent, water and electricity,” concluded WPF.
