THE Presidential input scheme is open to every Zimbabwean and its core objective is to empower citizens at household level to participate towards household agriculture as well as national food security.Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Cde Vangelios Haritatos, said participants in the scheme are identified at local level.Cde Haritatos' sentiments dovetail with those of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has on several occasions indicated that government programmes are open to every Zimbabwean regardless of political, religious or tribal affiliation.Cde Haritatos said recipients of the programme are also drawn from urban and peri-urban centres.“As you might be aware, the Presidential Input Scheme is also termed the Presidential Vulnerable Households Input Scheme.  The programme is meant to empower poor citizens at household level to participate towards household as well as national food security.In that regard, identification to the extension of farmers that benefit under the Presidential Vulnerable Households Input Scheme is informed by involvement of the local community.  The process ordinarily targets the vulnerable members of society such as the elderly, orphans, disabled and child headed households.These households involve peri-urban farmers.  So my assumption is that these are part of the 1, 8 million households.  As I have mentioned that it is the community that identifies those vulnerable. It is not our mandate as Ministry.  Our mandate is to provide the inputs that will then be later parcelled out to the vulnerable community”. Said cde Haritatos