Payouts to food insecure households to begin in June

Payouts to food insecure households to begin in June

Government will start disbursing money to food insecure households across the country beginning this June.
The money will range from US$20 to US$65, depending on size of the household.
The 2021/2022 summer cropping season was affected by erratic rains and in some regions families were left in need of assistance.
Zimbabwe experienced a 43 percent decrease in maize output as captured in the Second Crop and Livestock Assessment done by the .
Government has already made plans to cushion families which may be affected through cash disbursements.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Simon Masanga confirmed to Tateguru Tv that the payouts will begin next month.
“Government has a number of social safety nets in place to take care of all food insecure households. In rural areas, the government and its cooperating partners have the Food Deficit Mitigation Program where households which are food insecure are assisted either in-kind or through cash based interventions. The cash based interventions in urban areas include Harmonised Social Cash Transfer, Monthly Maintenance Allowance (Public Assistance) payable where Harmonised Social Cash Transfer has not been introduced,” said PS Masanga.
PS Masanga said assessments by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee are still ongoing to come up with more accurate projections of food insecure households in both urban and rural areas.
“The transfer value for the social transfers with effect from June 1, 2022, comprise of The Harmonized Social Cash Transfers paid out as USD$20 monthly per individual, USD$35 monthly for a family of two and USD$65 monthly for a family of 4 and above. USD$20 will be given out monthly per individual as cash for cereal whilst another USD$20 will considered as a monthly fee for Public assistance,” said PS Masanga.
The disbursements will target vulnerable groups mainly persons with disability, children, women and older persons.
Plans by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare were corroborated by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube in a recent Herald interview.
Professor Ncube said Government is putting in place to cushion ordinary citizens from the ongoing inflation, some of which may include grain distribution.
“The other one is food assistance for families and that programme is coming soon as we still have reserves in the GMB of 500000 tonnes of maize which will assist the vulnerable.”