Zimbabwe Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #2

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), most Zimbabweans have experienced improved humanitarian conditions. However, a significant proportion of households in both urban and rural areas continue to face challenges meeting their food needs, particularly due to Zimbabwe's national cost of living being higher than the national average household income. Humanitarian organizations have continued to carry out health and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions to prevent disease outbreaks, including cholera and malaria. USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) has focused on WASH activities that improve access to clean water and mitigate the risk of waterborne disease, providing nearly $5.4 million in FY 2011 for WASH activities in Zimbabwe. In FY 2011, USAID provided more than $63.8 million in humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, including more than $50.8 million from USAID's Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) for emergency food assistance and more than $13 million from USAID/OFDA to support agriculture and food security, urban livelihoods, protection of vulnerable populations, and WASH activities. The estimated number of people in need of emergency food assistance in the peak of the 2011/2012 hunger season is 1.68 million people, according to the U.N. Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP). However, this number has declined by approximately 12 percent compared to the peak of the 2010/2011 hunger season. The U.N. CAP reports that food production from the April 2011 harvest was six percent higher than the previous year's harvest and approximately 27 percent above the five-year average. Despite the generally sufficient availability of basic food items, an estimated 10 percent of the 4 million individuals living in urban areas continue to require emergency food assistance due to a combination of low incomes, limited employment, and chronic illness. In response to the ongoing complex emergency, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided nearly $729 million in humanitarian assistance to benefit vulnerable Zimbabweans since FY 2007. USAID/FFP provided more than $50.8 million for emergency food assistance to vulnerable Zimbabweans in FY 2011, including funding to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and Promoting Recovery in Zimbabwe (PRIZE) for nearly 30,000 metric tons of Title II emergency food assistance and for regional food procurement. USAID/OFDA provided nearly $3.5 million in FY 2011 for agriculture and food security activities that promoted crop diversification and improved farmers' access to seeds and fertilizer, benefiting at least 103,000 people. The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) and relief agencies have contained localized cholera outbreaks that began in 2010 and malaria outbreaks that began in April 2011, according to the Health Cluster. Given the limited health and WASH infrastructure in Zimbabwe, disease surveillance and monitoring remain a critical priority to help prevent further epidemics. USAID/OFDA continues to support activities that improve access to clean water and mitigate the risk of waterborne disease, including distribution of water purification tablets and water containers, as well as rooftop rainwater harvesting projects at schools and in vulnerable households.