ReliefWeb

5.2 million people in need of food assistance

1.2 million women and children to be assisted by WFP with nutritionally fortified food

30,000 refugees receiving monthly assistance from WFP

Highlights

• WFP has reached over 600,000 people with food assistance in Eastern, Southern and Northwestern Zones of Tigray.

• WFP has reached an additional 150,000 vulnerable pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls (PLWG) and children under five years with specialized nutritious foods throughout the Region.

• WFP has deployed some 130 staff to Tigray since November to scale up its workforce and is steadily increasing the number of food distributions in the Region.

• WFP is also supporting the Government and the humanitarian community in Ethiopia by providing vehicles to transport food and emergency storage units in Tigray when needed.

• Although the Government and partners have also provided life-saving food and nutrition support to many people in the Region, widespread insecurity is challenging our ability to access hungry and vulnerable rural communities in Tigray, especially in rural areas.

Situation Update

• The outbreak of conflict in Tigray last November coincided with the peak harvest period, resulting in loss of livelihoods, and disrupted employment, food and incomes sources, markets and highly impacted critical health and nutrition services.

• WFP is deeply concerned about the food security situation in Tigray. As insecurity persists and poor households deplete food stocks, people will fall deeper into emergency levels of hunger and malnutrition. The lack of agricultural inputs is expected to significantly impede the upcoming planting season.

• Humanitarian access to the region has improved since early February. However, in April, insecurity prevented sustained delivery of support to affected populations in Central, North western and South eastern Zones.