Governance, corruption, and food distribution in Zimbabwe (FDMS)

The study examines governance failures and corruption undermining Zimbabwe’s Food Deficit Mitigation Strategy using mixed-methods design (10 household surveys, 5 focus groups, and 13 interviews). Grounded in Human Rights-Based Approach and Principal-Agent Theory, findings show Government Effectiveness explains 91.2% of variance in beneficiary coverage, while village-level governance strongly predicts implementation fidelity (r = 0.804). Corruption manifesting as resource diversion and politically motivated targeting errors directly reduces food security (r = −0.99). Digital beneficiary registries (β = 0.532) and enhanced monitoring (β = 0.415) proved most effective against corruption. The study recommends digital databases, stronger inter-governmental coordination, and depoliticizing village-level distribution committees.