Attachments
In Numbers
32 percent of households are food insecure (September 2022)
3.4 million people are being prioritized to receive emergency assistance from WFP in 2022
Around 490,000 people have received WFP assistance since the start of the emergency response
Highlights
• WFP has now expanded its operations by rolling out in-kind food assistance and school meals.
• WFP reached 101,040 people with cash assistance from 24 October to 6 November.
• Over 36,000 schoolchildren have been supported with school meals prepared with WFP-provided rice. WFP aims to reach 1 million schoolchildren through the Government’s school meals programme.
• WFP has started rolling out its in-kind food assistance. On 3 November, nearly 400 people received food assistance, with the aim of scaling up to 400,000 people in November.
Situation Update
• Around one-third (32 percent) of households are food insecure, according to WFP’s recent Household Food Security Survey for September 2022. Nearly seven in ten households (68 percent) are turning to food-based coping strategies such as eating less preferred food, reducing the number of meals and limiting portion sizes.
• Markets are reporting concerns about price volatility and unavailability of items, according to the recently released Market Functionality Index for September 2022. Traders most commonly reported an increase in prices for cereal foods (81 percent of traders), and non-cereal food items (73 percent of traders). This volatility in prices is further threatening food security across the country.
• Sri Lanka is listed as a ‘hotspot of high concern’ according to the recently released Hunger Hotspots report for October 2022 – January 2023 Outlook.
• Food inflation (year-on-year) in urban areas of Colombo remains high in October at 85.6 percent (Colombo Consumer Price Index).