Attachments
SITUATION
• Approximately 455,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees and returnees reside in Chad because of ongoing conflict in the region, primarily in the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria and Sudan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports.
The influx of Chadian returnees from conflict-affected countries also strains local resources and contributes to increased food insecurity among vulnerable communities.
• More than 640,000 people in Chad are expected to experience Crisis (Phase 3) or worse acute food insecurity during the June-to-September lean season, the period when food is scarcest, according to the March Cadre Harmonisé analysis. Improved harvests and reduced market prices have driven a decrease in the size of the acutely food-insecure population, which totaled approximately1million people during the 2018 lean season. Despite the overall improvements, poor households in Bahr el Ghazal, Kanem, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Mandoul, Moyen Chari and Tandjile regions are expected to face deteriorating food insecurity as they deplete their household stocks, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Additionally, IDPs and refugees in Lac Region have few job opportunities and rely heavily on humanitarian assistance; in the absence of assistance, this population will face worsening levels of food insecurity.
• Acute malnutrition remains high across the entire Sahelian band of Chad. An August 2018 nutrition survey reported that 12 of the country’s 23 regions had global acute malnutrition levels exceeding the UN’s 15 percent emergency threshold.
RESPONSE
• USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) provides in-kind food assistance through the UN World Food Program (WFP) to support vulnerable, food-insecure Chadians with food assistance during the lean season, when many have exhausted their food stocks and are susceptible to hunger and malnutrition. Through WFP, FFP also provides support for general food distributions for refugees from CAR, Nigeria and Sudan, as well as to treat acute malnutrition among pregnant and lactating women and children younger than five years of age. FFP also facilitates the distribution of locally and regionally procured food, as well as cash transfers for food and food vouchers, supporting local and regional markets where possible.
• With support from FFP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) delivers ready-to-use therapeutic food to treat children with severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF also collaborates with regional health authorities to improve acute malnutrition treatment services in Chad.