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Elita Chikwati
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) have partnered to come up with an academic programme to strengthen the design, planning and implementation of programmes in resilience building, productive safety nets, disaster risk reduction, and preparedness.
WFP’s partnership and collaboration with NUST which started in 2018, is an innovation and opportunity in line with the global call to action of the 2030 Agenda and is in line with Government’s NDS1.The co-operation is expected to enhance WFP’s response to save lives and restore livelihoods using various development approaches and tools.
Ms Gloriah Murera, who is a deputy director in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works is the first student to graduate with a Master’s in Philosophy in Disaster Management.

Speaking after graduation at NUST yesterday, Ms Murera said she was happy to be the first person to be equipped but expected more people to follow suit.
“Zimbabwe has been affected by climatic shocks and more people need to have the same knowledge so that we plan better for the future. The knowledge I acquired belongs to the community not me alone,” she said.

Over the years Government has been working to find context specific solutions to different vulnerable communities with WFP complementing the efforts.

Under its Country Strategic Plan, WFP is working to capacitate national institutions.
This is done through technical assistance to social protection and emergency preparedness and response institutions to enhance social and humanitarian action.
NUST kecturer, Dr Thabo Ndlovu said the partnership was of greater importance in both the academic sector and the humanitarian sector.

“This is a significant development and an opportunity for meaningful research, these findings can be used by Government and WFP in transforming vulnerable communities,” he said.

The 3-Pronged Approach (3PA) consultation processes can be implemented in various settings, including rural, peri-urban, and displacement settings.

It can be used for multiple purposes, from supporting Government planning and co-ordination to informing a variety of WFP and partner programmes going beyond the initial focus on food assistance for assets programmes.

The approach contains three consultative processes conducted at three different levels to strengthen programme design and delivery.

WFP vulnerability analysis and mapping officer, Mr Isaac Tarakidzwa , said recurrent food insecurity caused by various shocks and stressors had posed several challenges on development efforts across the country.
In response WFP, Government and NUST have incorporated disaster risk reduction and management into the broader resilience-building efforts to support community priorities that address issues of climate change, environmental degradation, water scarcity and economic uncertainty through humanitarian responses to crises.

“WFP entered into a partnership with NUST since 2018, supporting institutional and operational capacity strengthening from the national to the community level and at the same time imparting knowledge and skills to disaster risk management practitioners.

“Through this partnership we have over time generated context specific evidence based information required by decision makers to inform integrated programming tailored to contexts as well as to inform national strategies for social protection, resilience building, and disaster risk reduction,” said Mr Tarakidzwa.