US embassy cable - 03HARARE537

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000537 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA FOR KHANDAGLE AND MARX, 
DCHA/FFP FOR LANDIS, PETERSEN AND WHELAN, 
AFR/SA FOR FORT AND COPSON 
STATE FOR AF/S DELISI AND RAYNOR 
NAIROBI FOR DCHA/OFDA/ARO FOR RILEY 
NSC FOR DWORKIN 
PRETORIA FOR USAID/DCHA/FFP FOR DISKIN, 
DCHA/OFDA FOR BRYAN AND FAS FOR HELM 
ROME PLEASE PASS TO FODAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREL, US, ZI 
SUBJECT: Humanitarian Assistance Field Observations 
in Zimbabwe; March 4-8, 2003 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  From March 4-8, (2003) USAID/AFR/SA Officer 
(AIDOff) MacNairn conducted three field trips to assess 
the delivery and impact of humanitarian assistance in 
Zimbabwe.  Events covered for these field trips 
included a seed fair, a food distribution (also 
attended by DCM Whitehead), and an interview with a 
commercial farm worker.  The seed fair and food 
distribution proceeded smoothly, and the commercial 
farm worker provided first-hand support for the 
widespread allegations of corruption and political 
manipulation of government food distributions.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
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RUDAWIRO SEED FAIR 
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2.  On March 4, AIDOff, accompanied by Catholic Relief 
Services' (CRS) staff, attended a seed fair in Rudawiro 
business center, Chigwarada Ward, UMP District in 
Mashonaland East Province.  The seed 
fair voucher system is funded by USAID and the 
Department for International Development-UK (DFID), and 
provides beneficiaries in communal farming areas with 
Z$6400 (about US$4.50 equivalent) worth of vouchers to 
purchase seeds.  In this particular case, vegetable 
seeds were available (e.g., rape, cabbage, cucumber, 
tomato, squash, carrot, bean, onion, spinach, etc.), as 
the planting season for cereals has already passed. 
This seed fair targeted 1200 beneficiaries within the 
zone, covering roughly 80-90% of the total population 
for the area.  Beneficiary selection criteria for this 
scheme included widows, child-headed households and 
orphans, those chronically-ill, handicapped, or 
otherwise destitute. 
 
3.  Pannar and Prime were the two seed companies 
providing the seeds at this fair.  Beneficiaries chose 
which seeds they wanted, based on price and their 
Z$6400 budget, and the seed companies collected the 
vouchers.  The seed companies then present these 
vouchers for payment to CRS' partner NGO, in this case 
Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT).  CTDT 
selects and registers beneficiaries based on set 
criteria, organizes the seed fairs, prints the voucher 
coupons, and provides other logistical support.  CRS' 
agriculture project manager provides technical 
assistance and other support for the activity.  The 
seed fairs are a novel approach to food security in 
that distributed seeds help to avoid the dependence 
that direct food aid creates, the seed distributions 
empower beneficiaries by allowing them to choose what 
they want to grow, and the vegetables contribute to a 
better-balanced, more nutritious diet, particularly 
important for those suffering from debilitating chronic 
illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS. 
 
4.  Training is provided by CRS and its partner NGO, 
CTDT, to allow beneficiaries to save seeds from grown 
vegetables for the next planting cycle.  For some 
vegetables it is much easier to save seeds, i.e., 
butternut squash and tomatoes, as opposed to cabbage 
and rape, where it is usually easier to provide seeds 
on a continual basis.  Effective saving of seeds 
through multiple growing cycles contributes to the 
sustainability of the intervention.  At this point, CRS 
has focused its efforts on emergency relief 
interventions with CTDT.  CRS and CTDT expect that 
future training for seed fair beneficiaries will make 
them better able to implement seed replication 
techniques, as all stakeholders prepare for the 2003/4 
growing season. 
 
5.  It is expected that beneficiaries will consume 
roughly sixty percent of vegetables grown, and sell the 
remaining forty percent.  CTDT will perform follow-up 
visits to ascertain whether these above proportions are 
generally correct, whether beneficiaries have planted 
their purchased seeds, and productivity levels for 
individual gardens.  The area targeted for this seed 
fair should be one of the more productive areas for 
Mashonaland East, as numerous perennial streams run 
through that part of the province, and water sources 
should remain readily available after the rainy season 
ends in April. 
 
6.  UMP District is served by World Vision with 
international food aid from the World Food Program 
(WFP), and the governmental Grain Marketing Board (GMB) 
for other/commercial food supplies.  World Vision is 
expected to target two-thirds of the district 
population for food aid in March 2003.  Rudawiro 
residents reported that GMB deliveries for the past 6 
months have been erratic.  Respondents 
also reported that maize meal was being sold at the 
official price of Z$560/50 kgs., but that only very 
small quantities were available.  Residents stated that 
the recent doubling of the gas price (officially 
Z$150/liter) meant that round trip costs by bus from 
Rudawiro to Murehwa (Z$2000) and Harare (Z$4400) had 
become onerously expensive. 
 
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SANYATI FOOD DISTRIBUTION 
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7.  On March 6, AIDOff accompanied Embassy DCM 
Whitehead, observed a CRS food distribution in Sanyati 
town in Kadoma District.  1219 families received 
rations for this general distribution.  This represents 
100% coverage for this initial CRS food distribution in 
this area (as opposed to 75% coverage in most other 
program areas).  Beneficiaries patiently organized 
themselves in small groups of 50 or so people, based on 
their home areas, and waited for their turn to receive 
the monthly ration of 10kg. bulgur wheat and 1 kg. 
pinto beans.  No oil was available for this 
distribution, and bulgur wheat 
was a new food commodity for beneficiaries.  CRS 
distributed handouts in English and Shona 
explaining how to cook the bulgur wheat, and 
promised to follow up to determine whether 
beneficiaries were properly cooking the bulgur, 
and whether they liked the commodity. 
 
8. Beneficiaries appeared to be happy upon receiving 
the bulgur wheat.  Initial reports received indicated 
that beneficiaries liked the commodity and did not have 
difficulty cooking the bulgur wheat.  However, follow 
up will be required to determine if this new food 
commodity is truly accepted by the beneficiaries. 
 
9.  Grain Marketing Board (GMB) maize meal deliveries 
at Sanyati, were also reported to be erratic, with 
widely varying amounts reported to be delivered over 
the past several months.  One villager alleged that the 
GMB has reduced deliveries to Sanyati because CRS is 
now distributing food in the area. 
 
10. The primary and secondary schools in Sanyati 
town do not provide meals for students.  The headmaster 
for each respective school reported 
lowered attendance because of the recent food shortages 
- 45% decrease at the primary school 
and 30% at the secondary school.  Both headmasters also 
expected attendance to increase in the coming week, 
once these initial food distributions had 
been completed. 
 
11. GOZ officials turned out in force for this 
distribution, likely due to the DCM's presence 
and the fact that this was the first CRS 
distribution for this area.  GOZ officials present 
for the distribution included the local Kadoma 
West Member of Parliament (ZANU-PF), the District 
Administrator, the Deputy District Administrator, 
representatives from the Ministries of Education 
and Social Welfare, at least 8 policemen, and the 
two headmasters.  NOTE: This was in contrast to the 
Rudawiro seed fair where no local government officials 
were visible.  End Note.  The distribution 
appeared well-organized and efficiently run, 
with no overt political posturing evident during 
our visit.  The MP invited the DCM to a virginity 
certification ceremony to take place in his district in 
the following week.  The DCM respectfully declined the 
invitation 
 
12. The Sanyati area borders the Munyati River, 
and cotton is the predominant crop in this 
lowveld area.  The maize harvest for this area 
is expected to be about 40% of normal. 
 
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FARM WORKER INTERVIEW 
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13.  A credible commercial farm worker was 
interviewed on March 8 in Manicaland Province. 
The main points from this conversation include: 
- GMB maize is widely being sold at inflated 
prices of Z$2000/20 kgs., rather than the 
official Z$560/50 kgs. Price. 
- many people know that maize meal is being sold 
at inflated prices on the black market, but individuals 
are unwilling to complain, as they 
fear reprisals from local authorities involved 
in the illegal practice. 
- newly-resettled farmers in the area were 
typically coming from outside the province, were 
not from communal areas, and typically had little 
farming experience. 
- newly-resettled farmers were positively favored 
in receiving GMB maize at the official price. 
 
14.  The commercial farm worker relayed a 
further story where a neighboring commercial farm 
was prevented from planting maize at the beginning 
of the rainy season in 2002, because it was 
occupied by war veterans.  The commercial farmer 
then recently attempted to buy GMB maize meal for 
his 75 workers as he had no maize to feed them 
from his farm.  Officials selling the GMB maize 
said that he could only purchase one bag of maize 
meal at the official price for himself, rather 
than the 75 bags that he wanted, as his farm 
workers were perceived to be MDC supporters, and 
thus did not `qualify' for GMB maize at the 
official price. 
 
15.  The commercial farm worker also commented that the 
national youth service centers were contributing to the 
spread of AIDS, because little education or controls 
were being provided for the trainees. 
Finally, he noted that inflation was destroying 
the purchasing power of the average commercial 
farm worker.  The official minimum wage for 
commercial farm workers is Z$7500/month plus 
benefits, which translates to US$5/month at the 
current parallel market rate.  Many commercial 
farm workers on resettled farms make less than 
the official $7500 wage. 
 
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COMMENT 
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16.  CRS' innovative seed fair strategy appears 
to be popular and highly successful, and should 
be encouraged.  Follow-up evaluations should be 
conducted to determine sustainability, and the 
actual percentages of consumption and sales for 
the vegetables grown.  Although the bulgur wheat 
distribution went well, it remains to be seen 
if this new food commodity is truly accepted by 
the beneficiaries.  Follow-up will be required 
here, too.  The farm worker commentary provides 
first-hand corroboration for the widespread allegations 
of corruption and political 
manipulation of government food supplies. 
End Comment. SULLIVAN