Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Afghanistan

WFP Afghanistan: External Situation Report (15 October 2018)

Situation Report
Source
Posted
Originally published

In Numbers

15.7 million people moderately (12 million) and severely (3.7 million) food insecure in rural Afghanistan (WFP analysis of EFSA results, 2018)

2.5 million drought-affected people targeted by WFP for food assistance (WFP analysis of EFSA results, 2018)

255,000 people displaced by conflict (OCHA 14 October)

Highlights

  • WFP has started its full-scale drought response. Beneficiary registration and verification is a priority and is ongoing across the 20 drought-affected provinces.

  • Some distributions have started in Badghis, Balkh, Samangan and Sar-e-Pul provinces; 133,000 people have already received assistance in this phase.

  • WFP assisted 14,300 conflict IDPs across the country since 1 October.

Situation Update

Drought: Afghanistan is currently facing a severe drought in 20 of its 34 provinces. Preliminary results of the recent Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) suggest that 2.5 million people need urgent food assistance.

Displacement: Conflict has displaced 255,000 people in 2018. Drought has also caused displacement, especially in Herat, Baghis and Kandahar Provinces.

Climatic conditions for the 2018/19 cultivation: FEWSNET reports that El Niño weather conditions will lead to an increased likelihood of average to above-average precipitation during the 2018/19 wet season. However, there remains a large spread of possible precipitation outcomes for the season.

WFP’s Response to the Drought

  • WFP started its full-scale drought response. WFP Afghanistan’s overall response to the drought has three stages. The early response was completed in June and reached 463,000 people across 14 provinces. The enhanced response completed in September and reached 525,000 people across the five worst-hit provinces. The full-scale response began in late September.

  • The full-scale response aims to reach 2.5 million droughtaffected people with packages of assistance tailored to their levels of need. The most affected 600,000 people will receive a 9-month package of support between October 2018 and June 2019. A second group of 800,000 people will receive a 6-month package, while a third group will be given a 3-month package. WFP aims to reach the full 2.5 million people by January 2019.

Other Emergency Needs

  • Aside from the needs in drought-affected areas, WFP continues to monitor and respond to other needs arising among internally displaced people (IDPs), malnourished women and children, people affected by natural disasters, returnees and the seasonally food insecure.

  • Drought-affected IDPs remain a serious concern. While the caseload in Qala-e-Naw is decreasing as a result of distributions in areas of origin, WFP continues to assist over 11,000 drought-affected IDPs in Herat.

  • Conflict-affected IDPs are WFP’s most persistent caseload and WFP constantly assesses their needs across the country. Between 1 and 15 October, WFP assessed 54,670 IDPs, verified 17,500 IDPs and assisted 2,040 households with emergency food or cash assistance (equivalent to 14,300 individuals).

Related Content