Attachments
IN NUMBERS
2.8 MILLION people in need of food assistance in Zimbabwe.
3.6 MILLION food insecure in Haiti.
44 PERCENT decline in food and cash income for poor households in Lesotho.
30 PERCENT of the population food insecure in Swaziland.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Although the current El Niño is now slowly easing, the humanitarian impacts will continue to be felt for several months ahead, and in many areas, well into 2017.
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The impact of El Niño is leading to increased food assistance needs across most areas of WFP’s operations, especially in Ethiopia, southern Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, and south-east Asia.
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Urgent action is needed to enable WFP to sustain its food and nutrition assistance to affected populations and to help reduce their vulnerability to further shocks.
SITUATION UPDATE
WFP is rapidly scaling up its relief operations to assist the most vulnerable, in the face of the intense El Niño which has brought devastating drought to southern Africa. Dry conditions remain concentrated over southern Zambia, central and western Mozambique, southern Malawi, and large portions of Zimbabwe.
The number of food insecure people in Zimbabwe has almost doubled in less than a year, and WFP is extending its Lean Season Assistance in Malawi due to the drought-delayed harvests.
Ethiopia is facing a major emergency related to what could be the worst drought in 50 years. Humanitarian needs have tripled since early 2015, as severe drought in some regions, has caused successive harvest failures and widespread livestock deaths. The window for timely action is closing, and WFP urgently needs additional contributions to prevent a food pipeline break in May and June.
According to FEWS NET, the number of people in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) in Central America and the Caribbean is expected to increase until August 2016.
In Haiti, 3.6 million people currently face food insecurity. Of these, 1.5 million are severely food insecure, double the figure of six months ago.