WFP Somalia Country Brief, June 2018
In Numbers
6,815 mt of food assistance distributed
US$ 9.8 m cash based transfers made
US$ 129.4 m six months (July-December 2018) net funding requirements
1.67 m people assisted in June 2018
Operational Updates
• Despite a favourable Gu 2018 rain season, humanitarian needs remain high in Somalia, as one good rain season is not enough to mitigate the effects of four consecutive poor seasons. More than 2.6 million people are displaced in Somalia, including more than 1 million people who were displaced in 2017 alone, further depleting their resources and ability to withstand further shocks. The flooding in South and Central Somalia and the tropical cyclones in Puntland have damaged crops and road infrastructure, and limited supply and access to markets. This means that poor flood-affected households, still struggling to recover from the prolonged drought are likely to face food shortages and higher commodity prices in the short to medium term. The floods and cyclones have also affected health, nutrition and education facilities.
• In June, WFP reached over 1.67 million people in Somalia with food and nutrition assistance including in-kind general food distributions and cash based transfers to 219,000 flood affected people. Out of the total number of people assisted in June, 818,000 people received assistance through cash-based transfers worth US$ 9.8 million, while over 456,000 mothers and children received treatment and preventive nutrition assistance.
• WFP Logistics has developed a Humanitarian E-commerce System (HES), allowing beneficiaries to shop online through a dedicated mobile application. With the test launch successfully completed in May, the application went live in June 2018. The solution allows beneficiaries to compare products, brands and prices from different retailers and products, therefore increasing the choice of retailers available to each beneficiary as well as competition between retailers. Local retailers deliver goods to beneficiaries. The application is available on the Google App Store and the feedback received from both beneficiaries and retailers has been positive. The system will be integrated with other humanitarian logistics modalities.