USAID targets small-holder farmers producing bananas, maize, sugar beans, chilies, paprika, cherry, peppers, groundnuts, potatoes, vegetables, beef and dairy cattle ranching.
But the US Embassy’s Special Self-Help Programme has come under fire from some quarters in Zanu (PF). The state media reported recently that the programme had been used to access inside information on the party’s succession battles from party legislators branded as the “Dirty Dozen” in exchange for funding.
US Ambassador Bruce Wharton scoffed at the allegations and said the programme gave loans to out-grower projects, not to MPs as stated in state media reports.
USAID figures show that beneficiaries produced 425,083 tonnes of produce since 2011, generating $157 million income.
“Since 2011, ZIM-AIED has trained 121,511 men and women and provided 133,296 small and medium enterprises with business development services where a total of 132,564 rural households have benefitted,” said official John Macy. $34,2 million came from beef and dairy farming while maize generated $37,1 million from 125,700 tonnes. Bananas generated $18,5 million from an output of 67,900 tonnes.
USAID has rehabilitated a 35 irrigation schemes across the country at a cost of $800,000 and injected $15 million directly under their agricultural lending scheme.
The Central Africa Building Society has stepped in to support the scheme as ZIM-AIED is pulling out. CABS has issued a $1 million insured loan scheme and secured funeral policy to smallholder banana farmers.
Post published in: News
I would like to the US government and the American people for their generous support and giving all the families who have benefited from these projects.
Humanitarian aid like financial aid to community farmers, food to starving families, HIV/AIDS drugs are very useful and are making a world of difference on lives of all those receiving the help. And it should be continued, by all means. However one has to agree that for a country like Zimbabwe the long term solution is to end the criminal waste of resources through bad governance. Whilst humanitarian aid is like the ambulance service at the bottom of the cliff funding projects like S W Radio Africa empowers the people to end the system that causing all the human misery and punishing them over the cliff in the first place.