By Conrad Mwanawashe
AN initiative seen as a beacon of hope and designed to provide nutrition-sensitive social protection to communities most affected by the El Nino-induced drought, has been launched.
The Nourish and Thrive project, launched by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) with funding support from the French Embassy in Zimbabwe targets over 38,000 beneficiaries and by supporting care groups aimed at pregnant and lactating women and their young children, we can enhance nutritional practices at the household level, ensuring that our children grow up healthy and strong, according to Dr Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa.
“In times of crisis, it is our collective responsibility to rise to the occasion and support those who are most vulnerable, especially women and children, who bear the brunt of these challenges. The statistics are sobering: over 1.2 million children aged 6-23 months are at risk of stunted growth and malnutrition due to poor dietary practices. Women, as primary caregivers, face additional burdens in ensuring the health and well-being of their families under increasingly challenging circumstances,” said Dr Talla while launching the Nourish and Thrive project in Harare recently.
The project is being financed by the French Embassy in Harare.
“For 2024 2025, we have committed 1M EUR for the Nourish and Thrive project implemented by FAO. Through the different components of this project in Masvingo, our main objectives is to improve child nutrition, household food security and resilience through multi-faceted approach. We are focusing on pregnant and breastfeeding women and children below 2 years old,” a representative of the French Embassy said.
“The nexus humanitarian-development is very important to us as we are targeting populations in situations of severe food and nutritional insecurity and aiming to restore food autonomy to vulnerable populations and enhance resilience,” he added.
The overall objective of the Nourish and Thrive project is to improve child nutrition, household food security, and resilience through a multi-faceted approach. The primary focus is on preventing child wasting, enhancing child nutrition, and promoting community-level food security by increasing food production and strengthening community capacities in Mwenezi and Masvingo rural districts in Zimbabwe.
To achieve these goals, the project will undertake several key activities. These include supporting Care Groups to promote maternal, infant, and young child nutrition practices, launching and rolling out Zimbabwe’s Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, and conducting screenings for children under five years old to identify and refer cases of acute malnutrition. The Care Groups will play a central role, serving as the primary network for delivering community-based support, with efforts focused on building their capacity through training and monitoring.
“Additionally, the rollout of dietary guidelines will promote healthy eating across the population, while regular malnutrition screenings will ensure timely identification and treatment of vulnerable children. The project also emphasizes household and community resilience through initiatives like providing agricultural input vouchers and cash assistance to food-insecure households with young children.”
These measures aim to improve nutrition-sensitive food production and reduce the labor burden on women. Furthermore, the project will enhance the capacities of Village Health Workers and community-based extension workers through training in nutrition-sensitive practices and emergency response. These activities are designed to ensure that nutrition education and behavior change interventions are sustainable, with trained community workers serving as key actors in promoting and maintaining improved nutrition standards within their communities.
“Furthermore, through the provision of agricultural input vouchers and cash grants, we aim to bolster food security while promoting the cultivation of nutritious crops. This integrated approach not only addresses immediate needs but also builds long-term resilience within our communities,” said Dr Talla.
Over the past decade, the FAO and France have built a strong partnership in Southern Africa, which is contributing significantly to the region’s development goals and addressed key challenges related to agriculture, climate change, and regional integration.
