The U.N. cash transfer scheme shielding Zimbabwe's poor

It is a small sum of money but a significant shot in the arm for Zimbabwe’s poor. 63-year-old Anna Kubeta’s household is one of the beneficiaries of a cash transfer scheme implemented by the United Nations and charity organisations.

Participating households are given $9 a month and support to implement an income generating project. The idea is to help urban families have access to food and to boost their resilience.

Anna Kubeta, Cash and mushroom project beneficiary said of the scheme: “We used to fill the children’s school lunch boxes with porridge and they accepted this because we were struggling, but now they get popcorn and crisps, they are happy.”

Nearly half of Zimbabwe’s 15 million people live in a state of chronic food insecurity — some 2.2 million in urban areas and five million in the countryside, according to UN figures.

Susan Marimira, Project Coordinator with DanChurchAid told the press: “The project which DCA is implementing together with the World Food Programme is reaching out to 3,974 households, translating to 18,990 beneficiaries.

“And these are receiving 9 dollars per month per person in a household and the money is used to buy primarily food just to improve food security.”

A long drought which caused crop failure and hyper inflation which drove up food prices have made Zimbabwe’s poor even more vulnerable.

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