2012

Appealing Agency WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) Project Title Saving lives, Preventing acute malnutrition and Protecting livelihoods of vulnerable crisis-affected populations (food component) Project Code NIG-12/F/46966/R Sector/Cluster FOOD SECURITY Objectives a) Improve food consumption among populations whose food security has been seriously affected by a complex and severe food access crisis b) Restore and rebuild livelihoods in post disaster situations Beneficiaries Total: 2,623,945 Severely food insecure populations Children: 624,984 Women: 1,313,384 Other group: 40,000 Populations displaced and affected by insecurity in Mali Implementing Partners WFP coordinates with local and international organizations for implementation; international partners include - CARE, Action Against Hunger, GADED, ABC Ecologie, ILAF, Africare, CAPE, IRD, Concern, Oxfam, ACH, World Vision, SADEV, HAII Project Duration Jan 2012 - Dec 2012 Current Funds Requested $209,892,409 Location All regions Priority HIGH Gender Marker Code 1 - The project is designed to contribute in some limited way to gender equality

Subset Of Appeal Sahel Food Insecurity Crisis

Page 1 of 4 Enhanced Geographical - Fields Agadez - Agadez - - Diffa Diffa - Maine-Soroa Diffa - N'Guigmi Dosso - Boboye Dosso - Dosso - Dosso Dosso - Gaya Dosso - Loga Maradi - Maradi - Maradi - Guidan Roumji Maradi - Maradi - Maradi - - Commune 1 Niamey - Commune 2 Niamey - Commune 3 - Birni N'Konni Tahoua - Tahoua - Illela Tahoua - Keita Tahoua - Tahoua - Tahoua Tahoua - Tchin Tabaradene Tillaberi - Tillaberi - Kollo Tillaberi - Tillaberi - Say Tillaberi - Tera Tillaberi - Tillaberi - Zinder - Zinder - Matamey Zinder - Miria Zinder -

Needs

An acute but temporary food security and nutrition crisis is unfolding in Niger within a context of high chronic food insecurity and acute malnutrition rates that approach emergency levels during the lean season even during normal years . The crisis is the result of a series of complex and interrelated shocks, specifically: i) an early and steady rise in cereal prices; ii) significant cereal production deficits due to drought and pest infestation in Niger and the greater Sahel; iii) poor livestock/cereal terms of trade linked to pasture deficit and degradation; iv) low resilience and coping capacity, exacerbated by the 2010 food security crisisfrom which populations have yet to fully recover; and v) the loss of economic opportunities and the displacement of householdsdue to insecurity in the region. The situation of children is of particular concern, as chronically high levels of acute malnutrition have tended to rapidly exceed emergency thresholds when household food access is adversely affected by shocks.

It is projected that by April, 3.5 million Nigeriens – 22 percent of the population – will be severely food-insecure, and 2.9 million (19 percent) will be moderately food-insecure. Populations are in an exceptionally fragile food security and nutrition situation and will require targeted relief assistance in order to survive the lean season. The deteriorating situation in Niger has been confirmed by three independent assessments: the Government -led vulnerability assessment conducted in November/December 2011; the joint Save the Children, ECHO, and WFP consumption analysis (January 2012); and the food security and market evaluation led by the Comité permanent inter -états de lutte contre la sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS, January 2012). Life-saving food security and nutrition support will be crucial to addressing the temporary but acute needs during the April-September 2012 lean season.

Page 2 of 4 As of December 2011, vulnerable households had only three months of cereal stocks remaining, and as many as one in two were in debt. Poor and very poor families have already begun to resort to negative coping strategies, including : continuously migrating in larger numbers and for longer periods; pulling children out of school; selling productive assets; and reducing the amount, quality and diversity of food consumption over a long period.

In 2012, the sudden influx of as many as 30,000 Malian refugees and Nigerien returnees into Niger has further complicated a precarious food security situation for the displaced and affected host communities. The displaced have generally arrived with few or no assets and essentially no means of subsistence. Rapid assessments indicate that household food stocks among receiving communities are exhausted, food availability is variable, and local cereal banks have few, if any, remaining physical stocks.

REVISION In response to the temporary but acute food security and nutrition crisis in 2012, WFP launched an emergency operation to respond to acute hunger and nutrition needs during the peak of the lean season, when household food stocks are exhausted and foor prices are highest. Revision of food security activities supports the recently updated Government response strategy and is consistent with priorities of the Government and humanitarian community to support highly vulnerable populations and save lives during a period of severe seasonal crisis.

Accordingly, the revised net needs of CAP Project NIG-12/F/46966/R account for: i) an increase in the number of vulnerable populations in need of preemptive livelihood support prior to the onset of the lean season; ii) a important scale up of targeted relief activities during the lean season to respond to the crisis -prevalence of severely food insecure populations; iii) a revised timeline for targeted relief activities to respond to the early onset and extended duration of the dififcult and food-constrained lean season.

Activities

In 2012, livelihood support will be implemented from January-April, and will resume as necessary in October after the crisis lean season. Cash and food-for-work activities aim to prevent further deterioration of food security by strengthening the resilience of fragile populations. Projects are identified in collaboration with communities and include the rehabilitation of land, water conservation, and building of disaster -mitigation assets. Women are particularly targeted for assistance. For labor-constrained households, appropriate alternative assistance programmes are determined case-by-case. Conditional labor-based activities are not implemented during the summer months as they would compete with the labour force required for the planting season in Niger.

During the long and difficult food-constrained lean season, WFP will provide life-saving targeted relief through unconditional food and cash transfers to severely food insecure populations who are unable to access food. The timeline for interventions is based on the seasonal needs and vulnerabilities of target groups and zones; accordingly, a gradual scale up is planned between April and June. The activity includes support to refugees /returnees and vulnerable host communities affected by insecurity in Mali. Targeted households in Agadez, Tahoua, and Tillaberi urban centres (where prevalence of food insecurity is particularly high) will benefit from life-saving cash transfers.

Geographic targeting for activities has been revised based on the Government -led household vulnerability assessment, final evaluation of the agricultural campaign, recent nutrition studies, livelihood zones, and the Integrated Phase Classification map. Targeting of households is undertaken in villages collaboratively by NGO partners, food crisis response units, village committees and WFP staff. The most vulnerable households are identified considering the following priority criteria: households that i) are female-headed, particularly those with high dependency ratio; ii) labour-constrained; iii) have low or no cereal stocks, or few or no cattle, and whose coping capacity is exhausted; iv ) depend on vulnerable livelihoods (pastoralism and agro-pastoralism); v) are indebted; vi) have malnourished children; and vii) are hosting refugees/returnees. WFP and Save the Children are working on developing the Household Economy Approach approach to further refine targeting, considering the potential effects of shocks on different livelihood groups.

For food transfers, a ration of cereals, pulses, and vitamin A-fortified vegetable oil provides 2,097 kcal/person/day. Where appropriate market functioning and food availability allow, beneficiaries are provided cash transfers. The monetary value is established in coordination with Government, UN, and NGO partners to correspond to the daily value of the equivalent food basket. In response to increasing food prices, the cash value has been revised to 32,500 West African Francs (roughly US$65/household/month), based on the average of food price projections for April-September.

Technical aspects of project implementation are undertaken by NGOs in collaboration with local authorities and WFP. Page 3 of 4 For cash activities, WFP will coordinate with appropriate microfinance institutions and international NGOs for distribution in rural areas; in targeted urban centres, WFP is evaluating the feasibility of using a mobile phone money transfer service.

Local committees of community members are established to oversee and ensure a transparent process and to reduce potential security incidents. Sensitization campaigns at the village level encourage women ’s equal membership and active participation and decision-making in committees.

Food security activities are implemented in parallel to nutrition support interventions (CAP Project NIG-12/F/46727) in order to augment the impact of nutrition support by reducing sharing and strengthening household food security.

Outcomes

• Household food consumption score: target >28 for 70% of targeted populations benefitting from conditional and unconditional support; • Coping strategy index <9 among households targeted with cash and food-for-work, and <10 for households benefitting from unconditional support; • 100% of food and cash distributed as planned for conditional and unconditional activities; • 100% of people (by age and gender) receiving unconditional and conditional food assistance as planned; • No security incidents reported during food/cash distributions • Type of community asset developed/rehabilitated through food and cash-for-work • At least 40% of cash and food-for-work participants are female

World Food Programme Original BUDGET items $ FOOD AND CASH TRANSFERS 31,905,493 LTSH AND EXTERNAL TRANSPORT 20,215,033 STAFF 8,458,267 ODOC 5,263,853 ISC 4,608,985 Total 70,451,631

World Food Programme Current BUDGET items $ FOOD AND CASH TRANSFERS 102,342,027 LTSH AND EXTERNAL TRANSPORT 62,519,936 STAFF 13,133,823 ODOC 18,612,628 ISC 13,283,995 Total 209,892,409

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