ReliefWeb

In Numbers

3,590 mt of food assistance distributed

US$ 102,375 cash-based transfers distributed

US$ 53.5 m six months net funding requirements (November 2019-April 2020)

224,056 people assisted in October 2019.

Operational Updates

Assistance to refugees: WFP continues to assist Malian refugees in the two official camps of Goudebou and Mentao (Sahel region). In October, food assistance was provided to 15,623 refugees in Goudebou with 140.79 mt of in-kind food. 15,111 refugees from the very poor and poor category in the camp of Goudebou received USD 102,375 cash-based transfers marking the end of direct cash distribution to refugees. Due to the rising insecurity, WFP is evaluating the possibility and feasibility of delivering cash-based transfers via mobile platforms. Distributions for Mentao refugee camp suffered operational delays linked to the security situation and distributions previously planned for October took place in November.

Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): General food assistance to IDPs is ongoing in the Sahel, Est, Centre-Nord, and Nord regions. In October, a total of 217,655 IDPs received lifesaving assistance. SCOPE is currently being used for in-kind distributions in the Centre-Nord. 3,566 households were registered through the SCOPE platform. A further scale-up of SCOPE usage is planned with the introduction of cash-based transfers targeting IDPs.

Education: In October, WFP provided food assistance 10,044 students who received globally a total of 13.9 mt of rations comprised of cereals, beans and oil. 734 schoolgirls received take-home rations to sustain and foster their school attendance. WFP also continued supporting 10 schools through distributions of yogurt produce by the three milk transformation units in Dori.
To support children affected by the crisis, WFP plans to provide assistance to schools and alternative educational facilities through the implementation of emergency school feeding activities.

Nutrition: Moderate acute malnutrition prevention activities continued to be realized in the four regions (Nord, Centre-Nord, Sahel and Est) with low coverage due to insecurity which led to health centres closure and health workers abandoning their posts.

Resilience: In October, five Community Based Participatory Planning (PCP) were conducted of which four in the Centre-Nord region and one in the Sahel region. Activities identified by communities during these PCP are expected to be implemented starting in November.
Food assistance for assets creation activities also included a field mission conducted to capitalize on best practices in integrated resilience in the Centre-Nord region and a joint mission WFP- Oxfam to assess the constraints of setting up the soybean processing unit in potential sites in Orodara.
WFP facilitated the organisation and participated in the G5 Sahel workshop on 17 October. The objective of this workshop was to provide a platform for consultation for the different actors involved in resilience activities and operationalize the implementation of the actions plan of the Resilience and Human Development axis of the G5 Sahel.

Capacity strengthening: On 18 October 2019, WFP attended the meeting with Proparco, the branch of the French Development Agency dedicated to the private sector and the International Finance Corporation. These institutions have initiated a common approach to strengthen their interventions with the private sector in the G5 Sahel countries, particularly in the agricultural/ food processing sector. The objectives of the meeting were to: (i) Identify market vulnerabilities and key business environment constraints for agricultural and agri-industrial stakeholders; (ii) Identify actors (private companies, inter-professionals) playing a role of "aggregators" capable of reaching a significant number of smallholder farmers and accompanying them to increase their technical, financial and agronomic competence; (iii) Identify existing counterparts’ projects which could be part of this process; and (iv) Discuss possible financing options for these projects in terms of loan and technical assistance.