WFP Logistics - Zimbabwe

Overview
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east.

Team
The WFP Logistics team in Zimbabwe consists of more than 110 staff working in the head office and five sub offices. This includes international and national Logistics officers, warehouse assistants and drivers.

Activities
Port Operations
Port Beira, Mozambique and Port Durban, South Africa are the primary discharge ports for international purchases destined for Zimbabwe while export bans in Zambia and Malawi have left South Africa as the sole exporter into Zimbabwe for maize grains.

Storage
WFP imports into five transhipment points in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare and Beitbridge with a combined warehousing capacity of more than 60,000MT.

Road Transport
WFP uses a fleet of about 200 trucks for its primary transport with transporters contracts based on a tariff system for specific destinations. CP’s are responsible for secondary transport to FDP’s but receive support from CO in the contracting process. The economic decline has negatively impacted on cost and availability of spares in-country for both primary and secondary transporters. Primary transport roads are in a better condition to secondary transport networks which consist largely of dust roads and some of which are deemed unusable in times of heavy rains.

Rail
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) network is divided in three operational regions:
Eastern Region: Mutare – Harare – Chinoyi axis, with a branch line to Bindura – Shamva
Midlands Region: Somabhula – Harare with branch line to Masvingo and Redcliff
Southern Region: Beitbridge – Rutenga – Dabuka and Chicualacuala – Rutenga; Dabuka – Mpopoma – Victoria Falls.
Most of present WFP traffic is railed to Zimbabwe from Durban and Northern Transvaal. From Beitbridge to Bulawayo there are two alternative routes, either using the NRZ network through Rutenga/Dabuka or using the Bulawayo Beitbridge Railway (BBR) services, directly to Mpopoma. The port of Maputo is also linked to the corridor Bulawayo – Harare via NRZ Southern Region,using the Chicualalcuala route (Mozambique border station) or through Spoornet using Machava – Komatipoort (RSA) – Beitbridge.

Aviation
There are currently no aviation services in Zimbabwe.