USAID Announces US$20M Program To Boost Food Production In Zimbabwe

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced a US$20 million program dubbed Feed the Future’ which is expected to boost food production in Zimbabwe.

The initiative was announced in a statement by the United States (US) Embassy in Harare. The statement noted that the new ‘Feed the Future’ program, known as Fostering Agribusiness for Resilient Markets (FARM), is designed to combat food insecurity in Zimbabwe. Read part of the statement:

The US$19.8 million, five-year contract with Chemonics International will commence in the next few months and will focus its efforts in Manicaland and Masvingo Provinces. FARM builds on the work of Feed the Future Zimbabwe-Crop Development, Feed the Future-Livestock Development, and USAID’s Food for Peace Development Food Security Activities, which will allow FARM to start quickly.

The statement also indicated that the program will target 20 000 households in above-mentiond provinces and provide innovative technical training and assistance to smallholder farmers to increase their productivity, bolster crop and livestock sales, and improve household nutrition and hygiene.

The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce rural poverty and improve household incomes. The initiative is launched when Zimbabwe is facing severe starvation due to the El Nino-induced drought.

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