WFP Chad Country Brief, June 2018
In Numbers
- 6,488 mt of food assistance distributed
- US$ 2.7 m cash-based transfers made
- US$ 59.8 m six months (July-December 2018) net funding requirements, representing 8.3% of total
Operational Updates
Lean season response: Food and nutritional assistance is now running in all targeted regions. On the week of 11 June, WFP launched its distributions for vulnerable communities in the regions of Lac, Barh el Gazel and Kanem and carried out a second round of assistance in Wadi Fira, where evidence of aggravating factors required an early response in May. In other two regions of the Sahelian belt – Guéra and Batha – cash-based distributions started later in June, due to security constraints. WFP was able to upgrade its assistance from half rations (in May, pre-lean season response in Wadi Fira) to 70 percent level rations throughout the Sahel. The modality of assistance (in-kind food or cash-based) depends on the availability of commodities in local markets and the capacity to absorb additional demand.
Results of a recent Emergency Food Security Analysis (EFSA) show that as the peak of the lean season approaches, more people are falling into Crisis (Phase 3) and Emergency (Phase 4) food insecurity compared to March 2018 levels defined by the Cadre Harmonisé: Nearly one million people have little or no access to food in the Sahelian belt. The nutritional situation is of great concern, with higher global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates, as measured by Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), compared to 2017 in all regions exept for Guéra. GAM prevalences in Barh el Gazel and Kanem exceed maximum levels observed during the 2010-2017 lean season.
WFP continued to race against time to preposition food in regions of eastern Chad, which are unreachable during the rainy season. As of 30 June, around 18.160 mt (91 percent of the net requirements) were already in the east or in transit within the country.
Increased advocacy & visibility: In collaboration with the French Institute and HAPE Collective, WFP organized a food and music event in N’Djamena on 1 June. Chad was the first country in the region to launch the SahelNOW campaign. The series Voices of the Sahel is broadcasted on WFP West Africa’s online radio station.