Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity in Zimbabwe

Under the Implementer-Led Evaluation and Learning (IMPEL) Associate Award funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is conducting an impact evaluation of the Takunda resilience food security activity (RFSA) in Zimbabwe. CARE is implementing Takunda—“we have overcome” in Shona—that aims to achieve sustainable, equitable, and resilient food, nutrition, and income security in Masvingo and Manicaland Provinces by improving income, nutritional status, and resilience to shocks and stressors of vulnerable households (HH), women, and youth. The 5-year Takunda RFSA has three main purposes:

• Purpose 1: Gender-equitable income for poor and vulnerable households.
• Purpose 2: Health, nutrition, and sanitation for children, girls, and women.
• Purpose 3: Resilience to shocks for poor and vulnerable households.

Each purpose encompasses various interventions, which may be layered to provide customized assistance to individuals depending on the number of targeting criteria they fulfill. Takunda will be implemented until the end of 2025. The target population for the Takunda activity is extremely poor, chronically vulnerable, and high malnutrition-risk households living across Chivi and Zaka Districts (Masvingo Province) and Buhera and Mutare Districts (Manicaland Province). At baseline, 60% of the population lived under the $1.90 United States Dollar (USD) Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) poverty line, and 24% of the children were stunted in Masvingo and 35% in Manicaland. The eligibility of households for the various interventions depends on demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status.