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SAVING LIVES & CHANGING LIVES
Unconditional relief assistance accounted for the biggest number of people WFP served in 2022, with over 13 million people receiving assistance through either cash-based transfers or in-kind commodities, underpinning the critical importance of emergency response in the region.
Lives were also saved as nearly 2 million women and children were treated for malnutrition, whereas malnutrition prevention reached 1.3 million children. Underfunding affected the reach of malnutrition prevention in countries like Cameroon, where, due to insufficient and late availability of funding for nutrition, the preparatory phase of nutrition activities started in October 2022. In the Central African Republic, nutrition activities suffered a significant funding gap, causing a shortage of nutrition commodities for most of 2022. This hindered the implementation of prevention and treatment activities for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
WFP also worked with governments and local partners to change lives by responding to increased climate-related disasters in the region, building the resilience of vulnerable people, and strengthening the national systems through anticipatory action and climate adaptation activities. Under these interventions, WFP reached 1 million people with climate adaptation interventions, a 39 percent increase compared to 2021. Similarly, strides were made under the school feeding programme as over 3.6 million school-going children were reached in the region. While positive outcomes were reported in supported schools, insecurity remained among the challenges affecting education outcomes, and, in countries like Guinea, underfunding was also a limiting factor.
Further, WFP supported over 149,000 smallholder farmers with over 78,000 metric tons of food procured from them. Cumulatively, WFP injected over USD 53 million into the local economies buying directly from smallholders.
In 2022, WFP continued to be an enabler of humanitarian response, especially in the region’s hard-to-reach areas, by providing supply chain services to partners and governments. The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) transported over 33,000 metric tons of humanitarian cargo and over 89,800 people.
Looking ahead to 2023, RBD, working with development and humanitarian partners, governments, and donors, will maintain excellence in emergency response. WFP will further streamline capabilities to meet escalating humanitarian needs while pursuing innovative solutions in prevention and resilience that break the cycle of food insecurity.