FAO’s new initiative to combat nutrition insecurity in drought-stricken Zimbabwe

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has launched the “Nourish and Thrive: Inclusive and Sustainable Nutrition and Livelihoods Initiative” in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo and Mwenezi districts to tackle the challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition exacerbated by drought and El Niño effects. 

The project addresses the nutritional needs of vulnerable groups, such as women and children, while empowering communities through climate-smart inputs, sustainable agricultural practices and capacity building for local health and extension workers.

Nutrition Insight speaks to nutrition specialist Patience Hoto, Nourish and Thrive’s project coordinator, next to Dr. Patrice Talla, FAO sub-regional coordinator for Southern Africa and representative for Zimbabwe, to learn more.

What are FAO’s objectives for the project, and how will it address the needs of drought-affected communities?
Hoto: Specifically, the Nourish and Thrive project will prevent child wasting, improve child nutrition status, enhance household food security and resilience through increased food production and strengthen community capacities in nutrition-sensitive food production and handling.

Talla: Through delivery of the set objectives, the project seeks to address the following needs:

Food insecurity in food insecure and nutritionally vulnerable households.

Possible deterioration of the nutrition situation of particularly women and children in the most food insecure wards. Women, as the caregivers of young children, are also disproportionately affected by the deteriorating food and nutrition security situation.

Poor consumption patterns resulting from poor harvests in the 2022–23 summer season (consuming less than four food groups per day) for vulnerable people (women and children) compound this situation. The most vulnerable population has poor access to and affordability of a nutritious and diverse diet and poor knowledge of nutrition and healthy eating. 

Lack of access and limited affordability of drought-affected households to diverse, climate-smart seed, fertilizer and agriculture inputs further affects consumption patterns.

How is El Niño a threat to nutrition security?
Hoto: The El Niño phenomenon is often accompanied by extreme weather patterns of very low and heavy rainfall. Limited or no rainfall in affected areas — mostly reliant on rain-fed agriculture — results in reduced productivity (poor harvests) and limited access to sufficient food. The other extreme, heavy rainfall, also results in poor harvests. However, for most of Masvingo and Mwenezi, the impact of the El Niño resulted in drought.

El Niño affects water availability, access and quality. This leads to poor sanitation and hygiene practices and an increased risk of access to poor-quality drinking water. There is also an increased risk of waterborne and infectious diseases, which impact the nutritional status of children, especially those under the age of five.

With poor harvests that result from an El Niño-induced drought, there is an increase in food insecurity caused by challenges of availability, access to and affordability of food. Food insecurity ultimately leads to inadequate nutrition, which often leads to malnutrition. Affected communities eat less frequently during the day and choose diets for mere survival rather than those that meet their nutritional requirements. 

How does the project strengthen resilience among communities?
Talla: Nutrition is both an input to and an outcome of resilience. Well-nourished individuals are better equipped to withstand shocks, while those facing crises are at higher risk of malnutrition.

Image 1. The more resilient households are, the more likely they will become well-nourished.Effective multisectoral strategies to combat malnutrition are planned, addressing immediate needs and long-term developmental challenges. The project encompasses nutrition, health, social protection and agriculture sectors coming together to combat food and nutrition insecurity.

The project focuses on enhancing access to nutritious food by supporting sustainable agricultural practices. These practices help households grow diverse crops, improving their diets and food security. 

Specific groups, including pregnant women, young children and marginalized communities, are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. The project targets these vulnerable groups through these interventions. By prioritizing women farmers for agriculture and nutrition, the project empowers them with resources, training and support, recognizing their critical role in household nutrition and food production. This empowerment enhances family resilience and community well-being.

Providing access to agricultural inputs, such as drought-resistant seeds and tools, helps communities adapt to climate variability, ensuring they can sustain their livelihoods even in challenging conditions.

When combined, the interventions aim to make households more resilient, and the more resilient households are, the more likely they are to become well-nourished (see image 1).

What is the role of community health and extension workers in the project?
Hoto: Community extension workers will be capacitated to enhance their skills and knowledge to support and sustain these nutrition-sensitive food system interventions. Similarly, the intervention will reinforce linkages between beneficiaries and local markets. The project will strengthen coordination and information management for food and nutrition security to ensure that decision-making and programming remain adaptive and evidence-based, further supporting the long-term impact and sustainability of the project.

What key strategies does FAO implement to ensure the project’s sustainability?
Talla: To sustain the project’s outputs and potential outcomes, FAO will strengthen the institutional capacity of food system agents, specifically Agriculture Extension Officers (AEOs) under the Department of Agricultural Extension Services in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and Village Health Workers (VHWs) within the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

FAO says community extension workers will be capacitated to support and sustain nutrition-sensitive food system interventions.This will ensure capacity building of community-based structures, such as VHWs and AEO officers at the ward level, will strengthen their capacity. Training will be on nutrition in emergencies, care groups, agroecology and the production, processing and preparation of healthy diets for all. The comprehensive training will be complemented by mentorship (particularly for VHWs), ensuring they have the knowledge, skills and resources to sustain the interventions independently.

Training will be cascaded to the community level, where they will be capacitated to consume diverse and healthy diets throughout the year.

Hoto: FAO will also integrate with and implement through existing government and community structures focused on health, agriculture and women’s affairs. These cadres will deliver training, care group sessions, awareness-raising campaigns, community screenings and referrals for malnutrition, as well as facilitate the delivery of social transfer actions. 

Nutrition education and behavior change interventions will be incorporated into existing programs and service delivery mechanisms. Additionally, the project can explore ways to embed the interventions within the community structures.

We will also coordinate through multi-sectoral Food and Nutrition Security Committees (FNSCs) at ward, district and provincial levels. With other key stakeholders, these committees will support the delivery of project actions, mobilize local resources, organize community-led events and ensure the sustained delivery of the interventions.

Talla: Additionally, FAO will strengthen community-based monitoring and reporting on the impact of nutrition education and behavior change interventions at the household and community levels. Reporting will be through existing health information systems under the Ministry of Health and appropriate channels within the other key line ministries.

To enhance local markets, cash and voucher modalities are expected to enhance linkages and positively impact the demand and offer of nutrition-sensitive agricultural inputs and food beyond the project duration.

Environmental sustainability will be ensured by promoting and scaling up climate-smart crop varieties focused on optimizing productivity through agroecological practices adapted to the local environment.