Attachments
In Numbers
100 mt in-kind food assistance distributed
USD 1.4 million in cash transferred to beneficiaries in October 2024
USD 33.2 million six-month net funding requirements (November 2024 – April 2025) representing 54 percent of total needs.
247,673 people assisted in October 2024
Operational Updates
In the month of October, WFP assisted 247,673 people, including 233,545 drought affected individuals and refugees through crisis response (cash-based transfers and food distributions); 1,394 people through nutrition improvement interventions; 12,568 individuals through smallholder farmer support and resilience interventions and 166 through training on capacity strengthening activities.
Crisis response/refugees
Food assistance for refugees: WFP continues to provide cashbased transfers to refugees and asylum seekers at the Mantapala refugee settlement. In October, WFP assisted a total of 8,945 refugees (4,535 female and 4,410 male).
Strengthened Livelihoods and Building Self-Reliance (SLABS) of Refugees and Host Communities in Mantapala: WFP distributed 1,000 handheld hoes to SLABS project beneficiaries to improve their farming equipment for the 2024/2025 season.
In collaboration with Africa Action Help International (AAH), 53 smallholder farmers in the refugee settlement were trained in food processing, preservation, and storage. This training aimed at reducing food waste, enhance the economic stability of smallscale farmers, and improve access to markets. Topics included drying fresh sweet potatoes, mushrooms and vegetables, smoking chicken and milling maize.
Crisis response/drought
In October, WFP assisted 224,600 (134,760 female and 89,840 male) people across 8 districts in Western and Southern provinces. WFP has begun scaling up food delivery through commodity vouchers, allowing 20,095 people assisted in October to receive support through local traders. The use of vouchers is aimed to stimulate local markets and ensure that the beneficiaries have access to nutritious foods.
Nutrition improvement support
WFP supported the training of 1,280 and orientation of 1,980 Village Saving and Lending Associations (VSLA) community volunteers in all 17 districts under the Scaling Up Nutrition II programme. These volunteers will support the formation of additional VSLA groups. A total of 219 staff members from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, working at district and subdistrict levels, were trained in the Savings for Change model.
This training aims to equip them to support VSLA volunteers in reaching the target of additional women of reproductive age.
Smallholder Farmer Support
Launch of the Input Distribution under the Drought Recovery Programme: On the 21st and 22nd of October, WFP launched input distributions in Kazungula and Namwala districts of the Southern Province, respectively. A total of 1,359 beneficiaries received input packs that included maize, cowpeas, and a variety of vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, rape, and amaranthus.
The scaleup for the rollout of input distributions to all other districts is planned for November 2024.
Seasonal Weather Forecast Dissemination: From 21st to 31st October WFP supported the dissemination of seasonal forecast in 39 districts of Southern, Western, Eastern, Muchinga, Central and Lusaka provinces, with a total of 450 participants in attendance from key line ministries. Following these provincial-level dissemination events, community-level sessions will be conducted by extension staff from the Ministry of Agriculture. The dissemination of the rainfall forecast for the 2024/2025 season aims to enhance agricultural planning and improve food security at both household and national levels. This initiative is especially vital for Agro-Ecological Regions I and II, which experienced a rainfall deficit in the previous season.
Capacity Building
WFP supported the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, in developing a multi-hazard national contingency plan (MHCP) to timely plan and coordinate response actions anticipated during the 2024/2025 rainfall season. The plan was finalized on October 10 and involved the participation of Government ministries and departments as well as specialised United Nations Agencies, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The MHCP includes early actions, preparedness, response and recovery activities aimed at minimising the impact of the floods on the human population, livelihoods and the environment thus reducing the scale of humanitarian needs for the affected populations across the following clusters - Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Livestock, Education, Energy, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Health, Infrastructure, Protection, Logistics, and Risk Communication and Community Engagement.
Research, assessments and monitoring
mVAM remote market monitoring: Food price monitoring conducted in October showed a continued increase in prices of food commodities. The cost of a standard food basket for an average household of five per month in October was ZMW 1,700 (USD 64) reflecting a 0.3 percent increase from September.