• 55,000 metric tonnes of white maize imported during the leanest part of Zimbabwe’s agricultural season /
• £20.9 million funds disbursed to allow grain millers to continue working /

Mending the maize supply chain through innovative financing

We designed and implemented the Grain Market Facilitation programme in response to the devastating impact El Nino had on the Southern African harvest of 2015/16. In Zimbabwe, the struggling economy amplified the issue and left some 4.1 million people food insecure by March 2017.

Utilising the private sector to ensure a rapid and efficient response

We brokered a solution which brought together data and expertise from the public and private sector to improve the availability of grain nationwide and respond to the domestic market demand, maintained price stability and, most importantly, ensured that vulnerable households were able to meet their basic food needs and averted a hunger crisis during the 2016/17 agricultural period.

Keeping food on the table

We used our procurement experience, local presence and fund management expertise to facilitate the procurement of grain to avert the hunger crisis in affected districts. We used a mechanism to facilitate the international purchase of white maize by grain importers – conditioned on maize being supplied to key rural markets at acceptable prices.

Read our lessons learnt paper here.