Cash transfer program brings smiles to Binga Community

By Rutendo Singadi

AFTER years of experiencing food insecurity caused by drought and climate change, Save the Children has brought smiles and hope to the people of Binga District in Zimbabwe. 

The organisation is implementing a cash transfer programme that is meant to help the community to buy basic food commodities like mealie meal and cooking oil. Each household receives a minimum of US$9.00 per person in cash, and the maximum amount for each family is $45 (USD) per month. 

This project is targeting 4 000 people from 947 households across the five wards found in this District which include Kariangwe, Siachilaba, Chinongwe, Simatelele and Kani the project will be running in these wards for four months. 

The people of Binga have welcomed this inclusive project as it has managed to transform their lives in a positive manner and going to bed on an empty stomach is now a thing of the past.  

One of the beneficiaries of this project Violet Mudenda (42) a mother from Siachilaba village is now able to feed her six children even if she does not have a source of income. 

 “It has been hard for me to take care of the family considering that my children are school goers and there is need for me to put food on the table and l do not have a stable source of income.  I used to work in some other people’s fields in exchange for basic food commodities like sugar, cooking oil, mealie-meal and rice, but with the climate change and its effects, there has been less piece job opportunities in the area. 

 Ever since this cash program commenced in my ward in Siachilaba, I am happy as a mother because I am now able to fend and feed my family. Nothing makes a mother happy than seeing her well-fed children, All thanks to Save the Children organisation” said Violet Mudenda.  

 Munkuli Franscica (26) a divorcee from Siachilaba village stays with her two children, ever since her separation with her husband Munkuli has been in a dire situation as she struggles to give her children the live they deserve and really appreciate the help Save the Children has been offering them. 

“It was so difficult for me to take care of my children without support from my husband or his family. My children would go to school on an empty stomach as I could not afford to buy food” said Munkuli Franscica. 

Save the Children, nutrition manager Mthulisi Dube said Binga needed urgent attention in terms of addressing food insecurity in the area. “As you know, Zimbabwe has been having reoccurring droughts, this is our fourth or fifth year in which we are having droughts. Binga is one of the most affected areas so it’s Binga and Kariba that are in the Zambezi valley and sosthe most affected areas when it comes to droughts that have hit Zimbabwe.”

He also said Save the Children has over the years been responding in each of the years that Binga District has been hit by droughts. 

“This year when the drought hit, the United Nations (UN) and government released the flush appeal, which is a request for different partners to help in supporting relief work. Save the children responded to the drought through our central seed funding,” said Mthulisi Dube