A total of 181 000 people from Cyclone Idai ravaged communities in Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts have benefited from the World Food Programme under the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP).
In a statement to mark the first anniversary since the devastating catastrophe United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) says various UN affiliations have assisted the affected communities.
“Under the umbrella of the ZIRP, WFP assisted a total of 181,437 people as of February 2020 that have benefited from conditional and unconditional food assistance in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
“Through the conditional cash transfer component WFP rehabilitated 13 community sites including watershed, construction of check dams, stone bunds, terracing, dams linked to nutrition gardens or irrigation schemes in addition to re-afforestation efforts,” read the statement
UNOPS says the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has distributed agriculture inputs and facilitated the restoration of livestock production.
“Through the FAO food security interventions 1,882 tonnes of agricultural inputs (maize seed, cowpea seed, sorghum seed, basal fertilizer and top-dressing fertilizer) were distributed, benefiting a total of 6,400 people in Chimanimani, Chipinge, Buhera and Mutare districts.
To restore livestock production, FAO also distributed 805 tonnes of stock feed for 2,981 breeding cattle to 1,073 households, including 303 female-headed households,”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) assisted in the provision of services to the affected communities.
“Through WHO health interventions, a total of 2877 beneficiaries were reached with health services, 816 were sensitized on prevention of malnutrition, malaria and water borne diseases, and 368 stakeholders were sensitized on ZIRP in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
“Furthermore, to enhance capacity and strengthen surveillance systems in response to early and timely detection of epidemic prone diseases an epidemiologist was recruited to strengthen and build capacity on Integrated Disease Surveillance Response (IDSR) at district and provincial level. A total of seven mission hospitals in Chimanimani and Chipinge received supervision support in the implementation of ZIRP interventions,”
Rainer Frauenfeld, Director of the UNOPS Kenya Multi-Country Office said though the journey has been long it is the best approach to build resilient communities.
“It is a painful memory for those who lost loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods to Cyclone Idai. The journey to recovery has been long and there is still much to be done. This multi-agency, multi-sectoral approach to disaster recovery, through ZIRP, is complex. However, we believe it is the best approach possible as we aim not simply to restore what was lost but to build back better, smarter and stronger so that communities are more resilient to future hazards.”
World Bank Country Manager for Zimbabwe Mukami Kariuki concurred with Frauenfeld that the project has demonstrated resilience there is a lot to be done through ZIRP.
“We recall with sadness the devastation that befell the affected communities and reflect on how the world was moved to assist. There is still a lot to be done through the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project. The community that the Project has reached have demonstrated incredible resilience in the face of loss and come together to work towards the recovery effort. We are grateful to the different agencies and authorities with whom we work to implement this multi-sectoral project. Together we have developed a unified response to help communities build back better and restore livelihoods.”
