Evaluation of ZOE's Emergency Relief Project 2008 - Feeding and Agricultural Inputs

Zimbabwe has experienced a steady economic decline for the last 7 years due to a
combination of poor governance, drought and HIV. Zimbabwe now has the lowest life
expectancy, the highest unemployment rate, the highest inflation rate and the greatest number of orphans per capita in the world. Hyper-inflation is fuelled by the government’s policy of printing money to purchase foreign currency, which has crippled the economy, sent many companies out of business and drastically increased unemployment. Several million people have left Zimbabwe to look for work in neighbouring countries..

Food insecurity is endemic with a joint FAO/WFP assessment indicating that up to 4 million
people would need food aid in the period up to the harvest in April 2008. WFP had committed
to respond but were anticipating a shortfall and were appealing for others to engage. In the
event, lack of fertiliser and seed as well as a combination of flooding followed by inadequate
rainfall resulted in another poor harvest in April. This meant that many families continued to
be dependant on food aid. In addition, a large number of families have limited capacity to
produce food even if they had inputs.