| Project Detail |
Approval Date 15 Jul 2022
Planned Completion Date 31 Dec 2025
Last Disbursement Planned Date 31 Dec 2025
Sovereign / Non-Sovereign Sovereign
Sector Agriculture and Rural Development
DAC Sector Code 31110
Environmental Category 3
Commitment U.A 19,000,000
Status Approved
Project General Description
The proposed operation is a grant of nineteen million Units of Account (UA 19 million), to finance the Zimbabwe Emergency Food Production Project under the African Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF). The project will be implemented at community and national levels to support farmers and governments to raise food production to mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on food prices in the short term and build food security resilience over the medium to long term. The main objective is to increase cereal and oil seed production, fertilizer distribution and policy support to mitigate the food crisis and build the resilience of farmers. The Zimbabwe AEPFP Project will focus on four key agricultural commodities namely wheat, maize, and oilseeds including soybeans and sunflower, in line with the commodities impacted by the Russia - Ukraine conflict. It will also support access to fertilizers for communal (<3ha), small-scale (3 – 10ha) and commercial (>10ha) farmers. The project is expected to increase domestic food production (2 to 4 metric tons/ha) of maize and wheat and deploy high-yielding varieties of oil seeds (soybean and sunflower) on additional 40,000 ha targeting total aggregate production of 400,000MT. It will be implemented from 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2024.
Project Objectives
The objective of the project is to immediately increase food production over the next two years by providing production support to farmers with seeds and fertilizer. The project is anchored on four specific objectives: (i) To improve the availability of certified seeds and fertilizer for 180,000 beneficiaries (40% female) using ICT-based platforms and the existing private sector-based distribution channels. (ii) To improve the affordability of certified seeds and fertilizer to beneficiary farmers through innovative financing and delivered through a transparent and accountable electronic platform. (iii) To improve efficiency and productivity through the strengthening of extension systems for promoting TAAT-based good agricultural practices and climate-smart agriculture, and (iv) To support RoZ’s commitment and implementation of agriculture and trade policy reforms that create enabling environment to support market-led input distribution and import and export markets.
Beneficiaries
The project will onboard farming communities from across the eight farming provinces of the country and these include Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces. Details of specific districts will be provided after identification. The 180,000 beneficiaries shall constitute: Communal farmers, A1 farmers (small scale) and A2 farmers (Medium to large) of which 40% are expected to be women. |
