WFP Bolivia Country Brief, February 2022

In Numbers

USD 2.8 m six-month (March–August 2022) net funding requirements, representing 48% of total

Operational Updates

• In February, COVID-19 cases decreased from a weekly average of 4,471 at the beginning of the month to 425 at the end.

• As of February 28, 48 percent of the population had two vaccine doses, 59 percent had only one dose, and 9 percent had the third dose.

• Tarija, Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Potosí are the most affected departments by rains that caused floods, overflowing rivers and hailstorms, leaving five people dead, eight missing and half a thousand families affected by the loss of their livelihoods.

• So far this year, WFP has received four requests for support from Indigenous communities and municipalities for 6,907 families. Requests are mainly related to climatic events.

• WFP and the Government of Oruro officially launched the production of the complementary food "Wawa K'umara" (strong and vital baby) for children aged 6-23 months to reduce malnutrition. The Government will distribute free of charge food to 17,000 children. The Wawa K’umara is composed of local products purchased from local smallholders’ associations and contains nine of the ten essential amino acids.

• Productive assets such as irrigation channels and traditional water wells started to be rehabilitated or built by Indigenous communities surrounding Lake Poopó. The cash distribution will begin in March. The productive assets will make local families more resilient for the next dry season, initiating in May.

• WFP carried out the selection process for the company that will carry out four Emergency Food Security Assessments and Marketing Functional Index, including gender, protection and Social Behaviour Change Communication assessments in three major floods and drought-prone ecosystems. The cash-based transfer emergency preparedness will include financial risk and information technology security assessments by WFP with external consultants. The assessments will allow WFP to be better prepared for any future emergency.