ZimLAC seeks feedback on effectiveness of interventions
THE Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC) is seeking feedback on the effectiveness of measures taken as a result of its 2024 report to combat hunger and food insecurity created by the major regional drought this year.
The initiative seeks to gather feedback from communities on findings of the original assessment and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions made to address food and nutrition insecurity in communities.
Food and Nutrition Council director-general, Dr George Kembo, said the follow-up focused on community interaction and sought to get the input of communities in evaluating how accurate the results are.
“So our intention is to interact with all stakeholders from the Government, development partners and communities. We identified a problem and you recall that the Government responded with strategies to address food insecurity and malnutrition-related issues.
“So now what we are doing is to say to what extent were the statistics pure and correct and to what extent are the responses sensitive to the statistics that came out of the ZIMLAC,” he said.
The exercise was part of the continued monitoring to gauge the response by the Government in terms of support to the most vulnerable people.
The 2024 ZimLAC report showed that at least 6 million people were likely to be food insecure owing to the drought experienced across the region this season.
Data from the annual livelihood assessments is critical for informing the development of holistic food and nutrition programmes to ensure that no one and no place is left behind.
Dr Kembo said the results were being used to inform decision-making and interventions at all levels.
“We want to see cohesion and overlaying of intervention because the results talk about the multifaceted nature of the problem, but it also speaks about the importance of multi-sectorialism in response to the food and nutrition insecurity challenges.
“So what we want to see is a complementary approach. If we are going in with food aid, we want to see those households receiving inputs so that we build resilience and avoid creating dependence on food aid,” he added.
While the initial assessment was conducted earlier this year, Dr Kembo said the Government recognised the evolving nature of the situation and was committed to monitoring progress and adapting its strategies accordingly.
The dissemination exercise involves Government officials, development partners, chiefs and village heads among others.
Maramba District nutritionist Ms Rumbidzai Magombeyi said the dissemination was important as it brought to the attention of all stakeholders the challenges concerning food and nutrition being faced in the district.
“We found that only 2 percent of the households in the district are receiving an adequate diet and with the El Nino-induced drought, there is poor food security. So the district food and nutrition committee allows us to come together and find the solutions to address this situation in our district,” said Ms Magombeyi.
She said the district had been recording a growing number of malnutrition cases among children and adults and this was a direct result of the hunger being experienced in households.
District Agritex officer and chair of the Maramba District food and nutrition committee, Mr Isaac Zvirevo, said the dissemination exercise was an important step to following up on the findings of the report and the necessary interventions.
“Everyone has a role to play in addressing this challenge of food and nutrition that we face as a district.
“We have to play our part to ensure that every household has food on the table,” he said.