Food Aid Support for Vulnerable Households - Caritas Chinhoyi Caritas Chinhoyi is located in Mashonaland Central province. The province falls under agro-ecological region 5 of Zimbabwe characterized by low and poorly distributed rainfall. Average summer temperatures are around 30oC with a mean annual rainfall of around 300mm. The proposed project will be implemented in Mbire district in Chinhoyi Diocese. The district traditionally grows sorghum though some farmers still try to plant maize which perennially disappoints due to unfavourable soil and climatic conditions.
Project beneficiaries are the most vulnerable households comprising of child headed, elderly headed, women headed, home base care patients and households with chronically ill dependents. A total of 1,000 most vulnerable households will be targeted which equates to 5,000 people. Angwa ward 3 and 11 were prioritized as the most food insecure wards in the district for this intervention in consultation with the district authorities. Beneficiary identification and registration was conducted using the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method whereby households participated in the identification of households to benefit using local vulnerability and poverty indicators.  
The project aims to reduce the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and extreme poverty. It is expected that the project will increase the quality and quantity of meals consumed and also increase in the availability and access of food commodities at household level.  A total of 365.46 mt of maize meal (300 mt), sugar beans (45 mt) and vegetable oil (20.46) will be procured, delivered to partner warehouses and distributed to targeted households. This project will give 10kgs of maize meal, 1.5kgs of sugar beans and 0.682kgs of vegetable oil per person per month to a maximum of 5 people per household. A total of 1,000 households are targeted translating to 5,000 beneficiaries who will receive food for 6 months. It is anticipated that adequate food supplies will be distributed to the targeted households hence beneficiaries will be food secure for six months in the hungriest period.


The extent of food insecurity and its impact on basic services is significant. Many households including the disabled, elderly, people affected by HIV and AIDS, and orphans and vulnerable children in particular are most vulnerable to the impact of economic and political instability and the resultant food insecurity. They are struggling to meet their basic needs. Despite some marginal improvement in national cereal production (0.7t/ha), many of these most vulnerable households in Mbire district remain chronically food insecure. 

Food insecurity amongst poor and vulnerable households is further compounded by the fact that many health centres now require patients to bring their own food and medication to the health centres. Many people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) have insufficient food to support their ARV and medication regimes leading to poor drug adherence. Malnourishment of PLWHA further reduces the effectiveness of their medication. As many extremely vulnerable households are affected by HIV and other illnesses, the provision of food rations in the particularly hungry months are needed to complement long term livelihoods and food security support. This project will support the short term provision of food rations for extremely vulnerable populations.