Nac, prisons in partnership

THE National Aids Council (Nac) has partnered with the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services in a number of projects, among them maize farming, aimed at improving nutrition at the country’s prisons.

Nac communications officer Mrs Tadiwa NyatangaPfupa told Sunday News that the council was funding various nutrition projects at selected correctional facilities across the country. An estimated $100 000 has been injected into the maize farming project. Mrs Nyatanga-Pfupa said the partnership with ZPCS was meant to complement Nac’s HIV intervention programmes that are already in place at the country’s prisons.

She said while the nutritional initiatives were intended to ensure that HIV positive inmates get good nutrition, they do not discriminate against those that are negative.

“While we have been doing a number of HIV interventions in prisons we realised that those were not enough without proper nutrition. There are inmates who are on ART.

“For those drugs to be effective they need proper nutrition, hence this project. However, we are not discriminating against those that are HIV negative as they also benefit,” she said.

According to Mrs Nyatanga-Pfupa, some of the nutrition projects include a piggery at Whawha Prison in Gweru, poultry and vegetable projects at Khami and Mlondolozi Prisons. She said Nac has also availed $6 300 for a goat project at Gwanda Prison, where 65 goats are being reared by inmates for both milk and meat.

“As part of this broad initiative, Nac has also provided for the production of indigenous vegetables whose nutritional value is known to be high and effective in addressing HIV and Aids complications,” she said.

Mrs Nyatanga-Pfupa said Nac has also provided seed maize to the ZPCS for a maize production project at various correctional facilities around the country. She said the project was meant to ensure that ZPCS meets its annual demand for maize to feed inmates. ZPCS needs 5 000 tonnes of maize per year to feed an estimated 18 000 prisoners in the country’s prisons.

“This Nac-ZPCS project has realised 401 tonnes of maize from 120 hectares at Bindura Prison which holds 270 prisoners and consumes around 94 tonnes of maize per year. Excess produce will be distributed to other prisons,” she said.

A similar project at Tsholotsho Prison is expected to yield five tonnes of maize from a four-hectare piece of land. Last week Nac took journalists on a tour of the maize project at Tsholotsho Prison where authorities at the facility explained how the project will assist them. Tsholotsho Prison farm manager, Assistant Principal Correctional Officer Tamai Musuna said the expected maize yield will sustain the 86 inmates at the facility for five months.

“This project will go a long way in assisting us. I think the projected yield will sustain us for the next five months before we start looking to Government to provide us with grain. Previously we used to rely on Government but this initiative by Nac will help us to be self-reliant,” he said.

He, however, appealed to Nac to provide them with more inputs such as maize seed and fertiliser to allow them to boost productivity at the farm.