In Numbers
5,947 mt of food assistance distributed
US$ 1,186,320 cash-based transfers under the drought response
US $113 m six months (May-October 2023) net funding requirements
1,345,918 people assisted in April 2023
Operational Updates
Emergency Overview and Response
Drought
From January to April 2023, WFP targeted 1 million people in the southern part of Madagascar in response to the 2022-2023 lean season through life-saving unconditional food assistance for 774,000 people and cash assistance for 226,000. WFP also provided additional preventive supplementary feeding to 47,000 pregnant and lactating women and 62,000 children aged 6 to 23 months. The fourth distribution cycle in April 2023 was delayed due to the late confirmation of resources that impacted the purchase and dispatch of food, resulting in distributions spilling over into May 2023. With the end of the lean season, WFP will decrease its caseload for the post-lean season period (June-September) and continue assistance to the most vulnerable populations should additional resources be received.
Cyclone Season Overview and Response
Following the last cyclone 'Freddy', WFP has increased its assistance in the Great South-East reaching 426,000 people in April 2023. Among them, 300,000 were targeted under the unconditional cash modality and 126,000 under unconditional food assistance. The compounded impacts of successive cyclones and projected failed harvests have resulted in a deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation.
WFP plans to continue responding to the most acute needs until the end of August and implement early recovery activities from September until the end of the year.
UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS)
In April, UNHAS flights continued to provide a rapid connection to the humanitarian intervention areas with regular flights between the capital Antananarivo and the South and Southeast regions. The EU funded helicopter provided critical air access to locations affected by the rise of water and floods. Over 2 months of operations, the Mi-8 helicopter funded by ECHO transported more than 700 passengers and 155mt of aid cargo to hard-to-reach locations affected by cyclones.
School Feeding
With the scaling up of the home-grown school feeding (HGSF) modality, the school feeding programme currently covers 987 schools with 335,585 beneficiaries, with 345 schools and 135,000 children benefiting from the HGSF model. Capacity building of farmers' organizations and local producers is underway for the establishment of value chains for the supply of fresh products to schools.
Nutrition – Development
WFP continues its effort to scale up the emergency nutrition response within the community platform and the general food assistance. Moderate acute malnutrition treatment services were delivered to 16,772 children in more than 1,100 community sites. Through the Miaro approach, 8,500 vulnerable households have been assisted with nutrition sensitive livelihood activities to improve food diversification practices in addition to the nutrition supplementation, counselling and messaging provided across the 11 communes where the approach is implemented.
Resilience
WFP continues the livelihood support and recovery activities through food assistance for assets activities and capacity strengthening in 30 communes of the Grand Sud and South-East to expand strategic value chains support, expand reforestation activities, provide training of women’s groups, support communities to create savings groups; and support community gardens for nutrition diversity and to supply school canteen and processing units.
Some 62,000 households received support to access and use climate information, and 5,200 others received cash transfer to create short-cycle seeds production for reserves and nutrition support. WFP also provided water access solutions (boreholes, water tanks, rehabilitation) to 26,000 people.
Four kits of Rapid Rural Transformation (RRT) were installed.
WFP and its partners are finalizing complementary services and products around the kits: water extension to schools, value chain development through small irrigation and conservation components, livelihoods diversification with equipment and training, digital connection, and preparation of hydroponics options in some sites. Capacity strengthening and studies are also ongoing to build the economic model and support the local management committee.
Supply Chain
WFP delivered 1,133 tons of food to the affected populations of Cyclone Freddy, including 856 tons to the Southeast and 277 tons to the Southwest. Separately, and with the support from the Global Logistics Cluster (GLC), activities were identified to strengthen logistics emergency preparedness efforts, including coordination, information management, operations and logistics capacity, and technical training.
Funding Challenges
WFP operations face critical funding shortfalls that stand at USD 105.9 million for emergency operations, USD 4.8 million for school meals assistance for the next six months, USD 1.1 million for nutrition activities, USD 1.1 million for livelihood assets support, USD 100,000 for the logistics cluster and USD 430,000 for emergency telecommunications.