Regional Coordination Food Crisis in Africa (MDR60003) Emergency Appeal Revision 1

This revised Emergency Appeal seeks a total of two million Swiss francs to enable the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to complement and support the country-level emergency operations related to food crises in Africa, mainly those Emergency Appeals and DREF funded operations focusing on drought and food insecurity. This regional appeal will ensure that the response to the food crises in Africa is effectively managed and coordinated beyond the country level, focusing on five key objectives:

1. Provide strategic oversight, enhanced leadership at the regional level and ensure support to operations.
2. Promote approaches which increase resilience and build sustainable solutions to food insecurity.
3. Facilitate and encourage regional learning and peer-to-peer support.
4. Support the collection, consolidation and effective use of monitoring and data and information.
5. Strengthen and scale up community engagement and accountability approaches and activities.

Details are available in the Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA)

The disaster and the Red Cross Red Crescent response to date

• 2016/2017: The African continent faces an unprecedented food crisis. Below-average rainfall due to El Nino and La Nina leads to poor crop harvests and limited availability of water. Conflict and violence further reduces the coping capacities of affected populations.

• February 2017: The United Nations formally declares famine in parts of South Sudan, and reports severe food insecurity in Nigeria and Somalia.

• April 2017: IFRC launches the Emergency Appeal for Regional Coordination of the Food Crisis in Africa to scale up and support actions in the most affected countries.

• December 2017: IFRC issues this revised regional Emergency Appeal with an updated strategy, based on a continuous analysis of the evolving emergency and humanitarian needs in the African continent.

Summary:

This Emergency Appeal has been revised from CHF 3,877,335 to CHF 2,010,476 considering the adjusted geographic scope and evolving humanitarian needs in Africa, as well as the human resource requirements of the regional coordination team. A funding gap of CHF 857,045 remains in this revised Emergency Appeal. The strategy has been informed by a continuous analysis of the emergency and operational conditions in the countries with food crises in Africa, and may be further adjusted based on the developments in 2018. Special recognition goes to the donors who have supported this appeal with cash pledges or have funded key positions to support the response efforts across the region, including Netherlands Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross Society, Luxembourg Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross, Red Cross of Monaco and the Ramboll Foundation.