Life-saving Food Assistance in , Cooperative Agreement 72DFFP19GR00063

Figure 1: Woman being screened by IRC health staff, Messorodi site, December 19, 2019

Second Quarterly Report October 1st, 2019 – December 31st, 2019

Submitted to: Office of Food for Peace, USAID Submission Date: January 31, 2020

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Awardee Name and Host Country International Rescue Committee, Inc. – Niger

Award Number 72DFFP19GR00063

Activity Name Life-Saving Food Assistance in Diffa, Niger

Submission Date January 31, 2020

Reporting Fiscal Year FY2020

Awardee HQ Contact Name Amelia Hays, Program Officer

Awardee HQ Contact Address International Rescue Committee, Inc. 122 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10168, USA Awardee HQ Contact Telephone Number Telephone: +1 (212) 551-0954

Awardee HQ Contact Email Address [email protected]

Host Country Office Contact Name Giorgio Faedo, IRC Niger Country Director

Host Country Office Contact Telephone Tel: (227) 20 35 24 59 Number Host Country Office Contact Email Address [email protected]

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I. Project Activities and Results Project Activities and Results

Indicator Disaggregated Comment Total number of project Male: 1,338 From October to December participant households Female: 1,067 2019, the IRC provided monthly targeted (disaggregated by food e-voucher assistance to sex by head of household) 2,405 households (16,835 total Total number of project Male: 1,338 individuals), disaggregated as participant households Female: 1,067 follows: 1,067 female-headed reached (disaggregated by households (7,469 total sex by head of household) individuals) and 1,338 male- Actual average cost per Cash : N/A headed households (9,366 project participant Voucher: $118.71 individuals). Among those LRP : N/A people, 57.5% are host U.S. In-Kind: N/A community members and 42.5% Average cost per project Cash: N/A are displaced people (with 4.8% participant per month Voucher: $16.9 refugees, 5.8% returnees and LRP: N/A 31.9% internally displaced U.S. In-Kind: N/A people).

II. Quarterly Report Narrative A. Project Summary The security situation in the remains fragile and protracted. From October to December 2019, according to the International NGO for Safety Organization (INSO), 24 security incidents were reported in the region. The most affected communes include those of , , Bosso, and N’Guigmi. As a result of the security incidents 53 people, including 34 children, were abducted during the reporting period. The Garin Wanzan locality in Gueskerou commune registered 20 abducted children, followed by the Lari locality in N’Guigmi commune, which registered 10 abductions of children. These abductions were generally carried out overnight with incursions into the villages. During the same period, security incidents resulted in 22 recorded incidents, including 13 members of the Defense and Security Forces of Niger.

1 This is per individual beneficiary. 3

The security context in Diffa was also marked by the imposition of military escorts on humanitarian agents by the Nigerien government from October 14 to November 2, 2019 due to the recurring attacks from Armed Opposition Groups (AOGs). This resulted in the deprivation of food assistance for 318,414 people in need in October 2019 according to a report from Food security cluster working group produced in November 2019.

In addition to the security incidents, the humanitarian situation in Diffa was also affected by natural shocks and disasters during this quarter. From October to December, Diffa experienced unprecedented flooding due to the rising waters of the Komadougou Yobe River in the departments of Mainé-Soroa, Diffa, Chetimari and Gueskerou, which devastated 6,298 hectares of pepper and rice fields belonging to 11,500 farmers and caused the displacement of 6,429 2 households (45,000 individuals) .

To mitigate the effects of the volatile security situation and frequent natural disasters, the IRC through FFP/USAID funding, conducted food e-voucher distributions to 2,405 vulnerable households in the Diffa region from October to December 2019.

B. Project Outputs The IRC conducted food e-voucher distribution from October to December 2019 in both conflict and natural disaster-prone areas of the Diffa region. The households reached through monthly food e-voucher distribution are summarized in table1 below:

Table 1: E-voucher beneficiaries Number of participants households Annual total Comments reached per month participants (unique) Oct Nov Dec Female: Planned 0 1,067 1,067 1,067 IRC conducted two food e-vouchers distributions in the month of December to adjust for the delay incurred in Female: Actual 0 1,067 1,067 1,067 October caused by the military escort imposed on the movement of Male : Planned 0 1,338 1,338 1,338 humanitarian organizations in Diffa from October 14th to November 2nd, Male : Actual 0 1,338 1,338 1,338 2019.

2 Ministère de l’Action Humanitaire et de la Gestion des Catastrophes, « PLAN INTÉRIMAIRE D’URGENCE POUR LA PÉRIODE DE NOVEMBRE 2019 A MARS 2020 » https://mahgc.ne/plan-interimaire-durgence-pour-la-periode-de-novembre- 2019-a-mars-2020/ 4

The IRC worked with local authorities, the Food Security Cluster of Diffa, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL) field agents to implement the following activities from October to December 31st, 2019.

1) Food voucher distribution Within the reporting period, the IRC organized three food e-voucher distributions, one in November and two in December 2019 for all 2,405 beneficiary households from the 19 sites of the project intervention area. The distribution was cancelled in October due to the volatile security context which imposed security escorts on humanitarian organizations. Once this was lifted in early November, IRC was able to move ahead with its’ planned distributions. Among the beneficiaries, 1,155 household beneficiaries are in conflict-free areas of Diffa which registered high crop production deficits in 2018, including the communes of Mainé-Soroa and N’Gourti, while 1,250 are located in the Gueskerou, Chétimari, and N'Guigmi communes, which experienced intense conflict shocks in 2018. In November and December, the IRC credited beneficiaries’ e-vouchers with an amount equivalent to 57 USD in local currency (currently 32,500 XOF), for them to purchase food items of their choice from the pre-determined 25 food items made accessible to them at “fairs” with selected vendors in their area. IRC staff also conducted refresher trainings for previously trained households on the e-voucher redemption process with vendor shops. In addition contracted vendors were refreshed on the process before participating in the fairs. Prior to each distribution, the IRC and the MoAL field staff conducted presentations on the available food items, packaging, prices, and relevant items that suit individual and household needs and preferences for a diversified diet. During this quarter, all 2,405 beneficiary households exchanged their food coupons at the fairs without any problem. In addition, the fairs were supervised by municipal officials, representatives of the MoAL technical staff and the Sub-Regional Government Committee for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises (DNP/GCA3). These planned supervisions occurred after all three distributions in addition to a joint supervision from November 13th to 14th 2019 on the sites of Dawairi, Dallaram, and Tchoukou-Kangou in the N’Guigmi commune. Despite the imposition of military escorts between October 14th and November 2nd, 2019, the IRC succeeded in completing all e-voucher distributions planned for this reporting period by scheduling a second round of distributions in December to replace the ones that were cancelled in October. 2) Awareness raising on nutrition and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) During each e-voucher distribution, the IRC organized awareness raising sessions that targeted both recipients of the food vouchers and other members of the community at the food e-voucher distribution sites. These reached 7,066 people, including 3,123 women (44.2%) during this quarter. This quarter, four major themes were presented on at each distribution site, including:

3 Dispositif National de Prévention et Gestion des Crises Alimentaires 5

 Attendance at health centers to encourage the use of the health services for women and children during the Harmattan period (characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind),  Hand washing with soap and water,  Food diversification, and  Social cohesion, a cross-cutting theme that is continuously developed based on the social context focused on bridging the gap between community groups (i.e. farmers and pastoralists, IDPs/refugees and host communities), as well as ensuring a distribution session with minimal tension and abidance by the rules of the distribution process. During each distribution, the IRC also worked with representatives from the Ministry of Health at the 19 sites to screen children under five years of age (U5) and Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW) for malnutrition. As a result, 1,390 children, including 798 girls (57.41%), were screened. This resulted in the identification of 80 children, including 48 girls (60%) as moderately malnourished, and 41, including 29 girls (70.7%) as severely malnourished. The largest numbers of severely malnourished children were found at the N’Gourtoua / Gargada site in the commune of Chetimari with a total of nine children, and at the Douloum site in the commune of Gueskerou with a total of five children. Furthermore, the IRC screened 964 PLW, of which 94% were found to be malnourished (91 cases). Out of the 1,390 children screened none of them showed signs of edema. Table 2 below summarized the screening data:

Table 2: Children (6-59 months) screened using MUAC Girls Boys Total G4 Y5 R6 Edema7 G Y R Edema 134 6 6 0 149 1 0 0 296 115 07 2 0 76 03 0 0 203 160 9 9 0 70 15 1 0 264 66 10 6 0 61 8 7 0 158 246 16 6 0 192 5 4 0 470 721 48 29 0 548 32 12 0 1,390

4 Healthy children 5 Moderately malnourished 6 Severely malnourished children 7 Severely malnourished children, to be confirmed at the health center level 6

Table 3: Pregnant and lactating women (PLWs) screened using MUAC Pregnant Lactating Women Communes Women (PW) (LW) Total >23 <23 >23 <23 N’Gourti 46 0 250 20 316 N’Guigmi 10 2 26 3 41 Chetimari 50 17 73 17 157 Gueskerou 35 12 51 20 118 Mainé-Soroa 8 0 324 0 332 Total 149 31 724 60 964

During this quarter, the IRC established 10 pilot IYCF (Infant and Young Child Feeding) support groups composed of 12 women in 10 pilot sites located in Chetimari, Gueskerou and Maine- Soroa to improve the screening coverage and encourage early detection and prevention of acute malnutrition among children. In the next quarter, the IRC will train the support groups on the use of the MUAC tape and the detection of nutritional edema, and will encourage them to train their family members on these topics. The IRC already procured 2,400 sets of MUAC tape and training materials for this activity. Prior to these trainings the IRC and MoH field staff in charge of facilitating community peer-to-peer support group sessions will be trained on the IYCF counselling guidelines developed by the IRC in 2018. These guidelines focus on listening to participants and encouraging peer counselling and problem-solving. Issues covered include how to breastfeed newborns, and ensuring proper hygiene practices and child feeding habits for infants six months and older. The IRC will roll this training and monitoring out for all 10 IYCF support groups in January 2020. Finally, to perpetuate this new activity beyond the project implementation period, the IRC will ensure linkages between the groups and health centers nearby. In addition, the 10 pilot IYCF groups will be part of the ongoing monitoring conducted by IRC on livelihood activities in the same localities through OFDA/USAID funding. This ongoing monitoring will enable linkages between the 10 pilot IYCF groups and local health centers after the closure of the project. 3) Feedback and complaint mechanism During this reporting period, the IRC finalized the training of 10 complaint management committees (CMC) s, including four committees in the commune of N’Gourti, four in N’Guigmi and two in Mainé-Soroa. 60 members of the CMCs, including 30 women, were trained on the role and responsibilities of the committees, as well as the importance of confidentiality in handling complaints and issues related to gender. Nine committees were set up and trained in the previous quarter. During the reporting period, two complaints about electronic card losses were reported, one at the Ardi site, in the Chétimari commune, in November and one at the Fougou site, in the Queskérou commune, in December. The lost card at the Ardi site was replaced within the month, 7

and the one at the Fougou site will be replaced before the sixth voucher distribution in December 2019. 4) Coordination The IRC continued working closely with the Diffa Food Security Cluster Working Groups, international and national NGOs, and UN agencies to strengthen information-sharing, share lessons learned, and to ensure the complementarity of programs and actors within the region. The IRC participated in five meetings organized by the Food Security Working Group (FSWG) in Diffa during this reporting period: . October 24th FSWG meeting objectives included: o Monitoring Agro-pastoral campaign progress o Analysis of the food assistance responses and gaps o Presentation on the Nexus piloting activities implementation progress o Food distribution assistance strategy planning8 . October 31st meeting: o Analysis of the Komadougou River in Diffa flooding in relation to food security (response, gaps and perspectives). o Presentation of the study conducted by LASDEL (Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local) on food security "from the bottom" (at the village, town and commune level), and the Humanitarian Nexus in the Diffa region. . November 3rd to 9thmeeting: o Workshop on Seasonal Livelihood Programming in Diffa, organized by WFP. . November 25th FSWG meeting objectives: o Imposition of military escorts on humanitarian organizations and the consequential reprogramming of October activities in November/December. o Monitoring the agro-pastoral campaign for the third ten days of July and sharing information from the FSWG mission with Niamey9. . December 16th FSWG meeting: o Presentation by the Technical Food Security Group (Includes the WFP, FAO, and the Regional Directorate on Agriculture) on the humanitarian response in Diffa covering cumulative agricultural and cash distribution achievements through October and November 30th, 2019.

8 This was put together in order to assist households affected by food scarcity during the lean season 9 The information that was shared was in relation to the Government of Niger monitoring the steps of agro-pastoral production in order to track areas of good production, startup production in areas that are late or those at a production risk. This monitoring is done in order to plan further response to areas of food shortage. 8

o Presentation on the national program “Initiative les Nigériens nourrissent les Nigériens” (I3N), a government funded program that aims to increase agricultural and livestock production, as well as livelihoods activities to vulnerable populations. The presentation included related FSWG monitoring activities and strategic thinking on the food security and resilience activity challenges.

At the national level, the IRC attended several coordination meetings in from October to December 2019, as follows: . October 2nd: o National Food Security Cluster meeting featuring a presentation on the results of the mid-term evaluation of the agro-pastoral campaign on August 31st, forecasts and risk areas, as well as the presentation on the evolution of the pastoral campaign and the qualitative assessment of the areas at risk10, 2020 HRP / HNO process. The meeting also included an analysis on the impact of the Nigeria border closure in Maradi. . December 12th: Meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Niamey office, including the food security cluster lead and members, and co-led by the Ministry of Agriculture and the FAO respectively, on the following topics: o The Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) process follow-up. o The provisional assessment of the agro-pastoral campaign and the cumulative rainfall in the region, as well as on the results of the Cadre Harmonisé/harmonized framework.11 . December 4th: o Meeting held by the Multi-Sector Cash Working Group (MSCWG) on the cash intervention mapping initiative to be integrated into the HRP (Dashboard Validation Cash 2nd semester). This also included information sharing on “protection with monetary transfer,” protection of beneficiary data and sharing of experiences with mobile money led by HRC and the IRC (specifically for e- vouchers).

10 A qualitative assessment is conducted through the government ministry of agriculture and animal husbandry which takes into consideration animal feed availability, health and movements in and out of the country through transhumance, marked by livestock displacement towards areas of high feed potential.

11 The CH showed low provisional agricultural production with decreases compared to the previous campaign, a regular market supply which is satisfactory for most products except for corn and a surplus compared to the average over the last thirty years despite the challenges of sporadic rainfall. For cereals, a decrease of 8% is noted compared to the production of 2018 but an increase of 1% compared to that of the last five years. 9

. December 19th to 20th: o The IRC attended a Système d’Information sur les Marchés Agricoles (SIMA) workshop on improving SIMA market monitoring, data collection, treatments and information sharing, as well as funding strategies allowing SIMA to be more financially autonomous and sustainable. . Between October and December 2019, the IRC met with FFP representatives twice in Niamey to discuss project updates, challenges and outcomes.

C. Monitoring and Evaluation From October to December 2019, the IRC carried out three distribution monitoring (DM3, DM4 and DM5) at the same time as the distributions, and one post-distribution monitoring (PDMI) conducted from November 20th to 28th, 2019, following the three food e-vouchers distributions organized in the previous quarter of the project as well as the planned October distribution that was moved to November 4th to 11th due to the security situation. The PDM1 survey highlights the progress of the project based on its indicators after three initial food e-voucher distributions. It covered the entire project area through a representative sample of 401 households based on the total of 2,405 targeted by the project. The survey used the random systematic method to ensure that each household had the same probability of being surveyed. In each site the sample surveyed is proportional to the total number of households to ensure the significance of the results by site. The online tool "Sample size calculator"12 was used by applying a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence level. The survey results are described under each indicator a follows:

Indicator 1: # of vulnerable households benefiting directly from USG assistance Target: 2,405 From October to December 2019, the IRC has provided food assistance to 2,405 vulnerable households (16,835 individuals13) each month in areas of the Diffa region that have been affected by both armed conflicts and natural disasters and climate shocks. Among the household beneficiaries, 44.4% were female heads of household and 55.6% were male heads of household.

Indicator 2: % of households with Household Hunger Scale (HHS) scores indicating little to no hunger Target: 90%

12 Raosoft Sample size Calculator: http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html 13 The Average of seven members per household is based on the UN’s “Household Size and Composition Around the World 2017” report: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/household_size_and_composition_around_the_wo rld_2017_data_booklet.pdf 10

The results of the PDM1 survey show significant progress in household hunger as compared with the baseline data gathered from July to August 2019. As of PDM1, 92.0% of beneficiary households exhibit little or no hunger, 7.7% of households show moderate hunger, and only 0.3% show “severe hunger.” At the time of the baseline report, 66% and 31% of HHs showed little or no hunger or moderate hunger respectively, while 3.2% exhibited severe hunger. This project aims at increasing the number of households with little or no hunger to 90% and reducing moderate and severe hunger categories to 10% by the end of the project. This indicator has been achieved for this group through three e-voucher distributions. Chart 1 below outlines the indicator progress:

Chart 1: HHS base line to PDM1. HHS

100.0% 92.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 66.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.8% 30.0% 20.0% 7.7% 10.0% 3.2% 0.3% 0.0% Baseline PDM 1

Little to no hunger Moderate hunger Severe hunger

Indicator 3: % of households reporting that food vouchers contributed to meeting their monthly food needs Target: 85% The IRC’s target is for e-vouchers to contribute to 85% of households meeting their monthly food needs at the end of the project. 96.5% of households surveyed in PDM1 reported that this food assistance contributed to effectively meeting their monthly food needs. However, 3.5% of respondents believed that the ration received does not cover their households’ monthly food needs. This is due either to larger than average household sizes (more than seven persons) or to beneficiary households sharing food with other relatives in the community. In order to mitigate this lack of coverage for larger households, the IRC will reinforce households’ awareness of

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effective food item combinations in order to maximize the coverage of their food needs, as well as aim to assist them through other means such as livelihood activities where possible. This indicator has been achieved for this group through three e-voucher distributions during this quarter. The IRC will continue to maintain the achievement and further access through subsequent rounds of e-voucher distribution and monitoring. Indicator 4: % of households with an acceptable Food Consumption Score (FCS) Target: 80% The FCS14 analyzes households' dietary diversity and nutrient intake, typically categorizing them as having poor, borderline, or acceptable food consumption. Scores are applied according to the nutritional value of each food consumed. The results of the PDM1 survey indicate that 6.5% of households have poor food consumption, 10.7% of households have limited or critical food consumption and 82.8% of households have an acceptable food consumption score. There has been significant progress towards the achievement of this indicator, as only 28.3% of beneficiary households had an acceptable food consumption score at the time of the baseline survey (+54.5%). After only three months of food assistance, the targeted percentage of 80% has been surpassed through the availability of and access to diversified food in beneficiary households as well as needs covered by the rations as outlined in the indicator above. This indicator has been achieved for this group through the three e-voucher distributions.

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Chart 2: Distribution of households by food consumption Score (FCS) as of the baseline survey:

Food consumption score

100.0% 6.5% 10.7% 80.0% 44.7% 60.0%

40.0% 27.0% 82.8% 20.0% 28.3% 0.0% Baseline PDM 1

Acceptable Borderline Poor

Indicator 5: % of households meeting minimum requirements for HDDS Target: 80% This indicator measures the average number of food groups consumed in each household in the 24 hours preceding the survey. WFP Niger recommends the following thresholds: . 6+ = good dietary diversity; . 4.5-6 = average dietary diversity; . <4.5 = poor dietary diversity The results of the PDM1 showed that the value of this indicator has clearly increased between the baseline (50.7%) and PDM1 (73.6%). The evolution observed in this indicator is largely explained by the food assistance provided to households and the awareness sessions focused on combining foods to increase diversity. The IRC will continue to work with partners such as the MOH and MoAL to achieve the project target of 80% by reinforcing beneficiary awareness on food combinations from the list of the 25 items presented at distribution fairs. Through the first three e-voucher distributions, the IRC has achieved 73.6% indicator progress. The graph below shows the evolution of the household food diversity scores between the baseline and PDM1 achieved after three months of food assistance:

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Chart 3: % of households meeting minimum requirements for HDDS Household food diversity score (HDDS) 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 73.6% 70.0% 60.0% 50.7% 49.3% 50.0% 40.0% 26.4% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Baseline PDM 1

HDDS ≥ 4.5 HDDS ˂ 4.5

Indicator 6: % of households reporting the use of negative coping strategy (CSI) Target: <20% This indicator measures the percentage of households that used at least one negative coping mechanism in the seven days before the survey. The Baseline Report showed that 52% of households used negative coping mechanisms. Taking into account the food insecurity indicators mentioned above (FCS, HDDS, and HHS) as well as CSI, more than half of the beneficiaries were food insecure. The results of the PDM1 survey showed that 18.4% of beneficiary households used negative coping mechanisms compared to 81.6% who did not. This is a stark decrease from the baseline figures. Among the 18.4% of households that used negative coping or survival strategies, 10.4% used severe negative strategies (i.e. reduction of the number of daily food intake from 3 to 2 times a day) and 8% used moderate strategies (i.e. reduction of the quantity of food intake). Based on the goal to bring the number of households that use negative coping and survival strategies to below 20% by end of the project, this indicator has been achieved for this group through three e-voucher distributions. The IRC will continue to work closely with food security and livelihoods intervention actors such as World Vision, Samaritan Purse, WFP and government actors in order to support vulnerable communities in the Diffa region to reduce their negative coping mechanisms. The IRC is currently implementing livelihoods activities through two OFDA and ECHO-funded livelihoods diversification and strengthening projects.

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Chart 4: % of households reporting the use of negative coping strategy, (CSI) indicator progress: Use of negative coping strategies 100.0% 90.0% 81.6% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 52.0% 48.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 18.4% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Baseline PDM 1

Yes No

Indicator 7: # of traders reporting a sales increase due to vouchers Target: 15 The IRC contracted 15 vendors to participate in the food e-voucher fairs through their mobile shops. The IRC will measure the number of sales by the vendors at the end of the whole project and expects that all 15 vendors will report an increase in sales.

Indicator 8: % increase/decrease on average price for key foods items compared to previous year Target: ± 3%. The IRC monitored the market price variations of the ten main commodities on the local markets from the start of the project. The last survey carried out in November 2019 shows a variation of ± 4% compared to the previous year at the same period. The goal is to have a price variation of ± 3%. The closing of the border with Nigeria may have contributed to this slight negative change in the prices of major commodities on the local markets. More detail is given under the Market Monitoring and Analysis below. D. Market Monitoring and Analysis Since the beginning of the project and on a monthly basis, the IRC has monitored the fluctuations in the Naira – XOF exchange rate in the project area of Diffa, as well as market sources of supply, availability and prices of the 12 most consumed food items by beneficiaries. The monitoring has been carried out in the main markets of the project area, namely the central markets of Diffa, 15

N’Gugimi, N'Gourti and Mainé-Soroa. Despite the volatile security context, these markets have remained functional and well supplied from the domestic markets of Maradi, and Niamey. During this quarter, the prices of the main cereals in the Diffa region were more or less due to consistent supply and availability. In December 2019, the prices of millet and Sorghum were unchanged compared to the previous month and the same period last year. On the other hand, the price of Maize went up slightly from the previous month (+4%) and the same period last year (+3%). For other staples, pepper, onion and cowpea are commodities widely used for everyday consumption by the population. Pepper and onion, and even to some extent cowpea are produced locally. This year was severely marked by floods that affected hundreds of hectares of pepper and onion across the Diffa region resulting in the significant rise in prices due to low availability in the markets. For peppers, the average price increased by 23% compared to the same period last year. The onion also recorded a slight price increase (5%) in December 2019compared to the previous month, and 55% compared to the same period last year. The price of cowpea dropped –by 24% compared to the previous October and November, and dropped by 34% compared to the same period last year. This decrease is particularly linked to the ban on its export to Nigeria since June / July 2019, as Nigerian authorities decided to close the Nigerian border from neighboring countries, including Niger. By the end of the December 2019, the average price variation of the 12 major food items monitored in Diffa was of +1.25%.

In terms of average food item availability in the main markets of the Diffa region, availability varies from one market to another. The availability of all food products is higher in the central market of Diffa. In Mainé-Soroa and N’Gourti, availability is medium and / or low for most products due to the fact that these markets are secondary markets and that demand is not as great for all products. The Diffa market is mainly supplied through other domestic markets of Niger (Niamey, Maradi and Zinder) for most food products including imported rice, pasta, sugar, palm oil among others. Cereals such as millet and maize are imported through the markets of northern Nigeria and to some extent from Zinder. Onions and peppers are produced locally in Diffa in the areas near the Komadougou Yobé River. This year, the Komadougou flood significantly affected these crops. The Government of Niger and humanitarian actors’ joint monitoring of the Komadougou flood estimated that a total of 19,000 hectares of rice, pepper and onion crops were destroyed15.

15 “Rapport de mission conjointe d’évaluations multisectorielles – Inondations – Mayo Kebbi du 22 au 28 novembre 2019” https://reliefweb.int/report/chad/rapport-de-mission-conjointe-d-valuations-multisectorielles-inondations- mayo-kebbi-du-22 16

The IRC has also monitored the exchange rate between XOF and Naira at the markets. From January to December 2019, the exchange rate between the Naira and the XOF Francs experienced variations, in particular between June and November 2019. In August 2019, the lowest exchange rate was registered, when 550 Naira was equal to 1,000 XOF. The average annual change in food prices over the year was -1%. It should also be noted that the exchange rate may vary depending on the actors interviewed (money changers and sellers). During this reporting period, exchange rate trended towards "normalization" through stability in the exchange rate.

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Table 4: Commodity price monitoring data from October - December 2019 Retail Retail Retail Retail % of decrease or Key Consumer price price price price increase Quantity # food items (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD) comparing Dec.

Dec‘18 Oct‘19 Nov‘19 Dec‘19 ‘18 to Dec. ‘19 [1] 1 Millet 1 Bunch 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 0%

2 Maize 1 Bunch 1 1,03 0,9 1,03 +3%

3 Rice imported 1 Bunch 2,1 2,2 2,06 2,1 0%

4 Sorghum 1 Bunch 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 0%

5 Cowpea 1 Bunch 1,7 1,4 1,4 1,12 -34%

6 Onion 1 Bunch 1,3 1,3 1,9 2,01 +55%

7 Ground peppers 1 Bunch 5,6 5,7 6,3 6,9 +23%

8 Palm Oil 1 Liter 1,6 1,4 1,4 1,55 -3%

9 Powdered Milk 500 grams 3,1 3,01 2,6 3,01 -3%

10 Sugar 1 Bunch 3,4 2,9 2,8 3,01 -11%

11 Salt 25 grams 0,2 0,19 0,17 0,17 -15% 12 Tomato 25 grams 0,2 0,17 0,19 0,9 0% concentrate

E. Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned This project’s main challenge continues to be the volatile security context in the region with the expansion of AOG operations to the N’Guigmi department, which was a conflict free area until the armed attack in March 2019. Three of the IRC’s intervention sites between the Lari and Boula Brine localities in the N’Guigimi department are a concern, therefore the IRC is closely monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of staff and beneficiaries. Despite the security context and military escort requirement, which impeded the project’s intervention, the IRC was

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able to mitigate these challenges through an adaptive approach, including rescheduling distributions. Despite a complex and challenging environment, the IRC achieved its targets for the project period and in some cases over-achieved due to flexible programming.

However, the IRC noted that at the end of Q2, 3.5% of project household beneficiaries felt that the rations received from the food voucher distribution did not cover their households’ monthly food needs. This was either due either to larger than average household sizes (more than seven persons) or to beneficiary households sharing food with other relatives in the community. In order to mitigate this, in Q3, the IRC will reinforce households’ awareness of effective food items combinations and use this to maximize the coverage of their household food needs, as well as mobilize these households to participate in other livelihoods (IGA) activities promoted by the IRC.

As proven during the implementation of the project during the previous year, the e-voucher modality accompanied by the deployment of mobile shops remains the most realistic and effective option for providing food assistance to beneficiaries in remote areas where markets are not properly functional. This approach will also contribute to local market development through vendors’ increased sales and the recruitment of youth for sales jobs.

F. Actuals Table:

Food Voucher Actuals Table Q2 (Oct– Dec, 2019) Amount Approved $411,255 Value of Individual Transfer (USD) $57 Planned # of Vouchers 7,215 Actual # of Vouchers distributed 7,215 Actual # of Vouchers redeemed 7,215 # of Participants per Month who Received Direct: 2,405 Transfers16 Indirect: 16,835 # of Months of Distribution 3 Average Cost per Participant $16.9 Cost per Month $137,085 Frequency of Transaction Monthly Quantity Distributed in MT (metric tons) N/A

16 Average number of beneficiaries reached every month (2,405 households in November and 2,405 households in Dec) 19

Planned Participants for the Quarter (Male) 1,338 Planned Participants for the Quarter (Female) 1,067 Actual Number of Participants Reached (male) 1,338 Actual Number of Participants Reached (female) 1,067 Time from signed agreement to the first distribution N/A to beneficiaries (Add unit of time this is measured in)

G. Indicator Performance Tracking Table

Baseline PDM 1 value Narrative summary Indicators value Goal: The food security of 2,405 vulnerable refugee, returnee, IDP and host community households in Diffa, Niger is increased Purpose: Immediate Indicator 1: 2,405 food needs of # of vulnerable households benefiting 0 (male=1,338, vulnerable refugee, directly from USG assistance female=1,067) returnee, IDP and host Indicator 2: 66% 92.0% community households % of households with Household Hunger are met Scale (HHS) scores indicating little to no hunger Indicator 3: 96.5% % of households reporting that food 0 vouchers contributed to meeting their monthly food needs Sub-Purpose 1: Food consumption among refugee, returnee, IDP and host households receiving emergency food assistance is improved Output 1: Indicator 4: % of households with an 28% 82.8% Households have acceptable Food Consumption Score increased frequency (FCS) and improved quality of meals

Output 2: Indicator 5: % of households meeting 51% 73.6% Households have minimum requirements for HDDS increased months of food self-sufficiency

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Sub-Purpose 2: Negative coping strategies among vulnerable IDP and host households reduced Output 1: There is a Indicator 6: % of households reporting 52 % 18.4% decrease in use of the use of negative coping strategies negative coping strategies of households to access food Sub-Purpose 3: Local traders/markets benefit from the food voucher and cash program Output 1: Traders Indicator 7: # of traders reporting a sales 0 15 benefit from the increase due to vouchers program Output 2: Average Indicator 8: % average price 0 ± 4% market prices stay increase/decrease for key foods items steady throughout compared to previous year program

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