Nutrition sensitization in Damboa LGA. Photo by Mercy Corps RESPONSIVE ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE TO CONFLICT-AFFECTED HOUSEHOLDS (REACH) 2 FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report EIGHTH IMPLEMENTING QUARTER Country Contact Headquarters Contact Project Summary

Award Number: AID-FFP-G-16-00058 Start Date: May 20, 2016 End Date: August 31, 2018 Report Date: April 30, 2018 Total Award: $17,500,000

Program Overview Since 2009, a violent insurgency and counter-insurgency has been fought throughout Northeast Nigeria. Left in its wake is a humanitarian crisis – 8.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States, 5.1 million of which are food insecure.1

Responsive Economic Assistance to Conflict-affected Households (REACH) 2 is a Food for Peace- funded emergency food security project. The goal of REACH 2 is to enhance food security for IDP and host households in conflict-affected parts of Northeast Nigeria.

To assist households in meeting their immediate needs, REACH 2 distributes food vouchers, which also assists in the rapid recovery of small businesses in the food market-chain.

REACH 2 has a community infrastructure component in which participating households work on community projects that rehabilitate community assets and, in return, earn wages in line with local wages and labor laws using the Cash for Work modality. Specific community projects will be selected by recipient communities with practices in place to ensure the input, needs, and perspectives of all community members, including women, men, youth, IDPs, and hosts. Communities are prioritized based on the importance of increasing host community acceptance of the burden of hosting IDPs, or in areas of return where conflict-damaged buildings and other infrastructure are in critical need of rehabilitation.

REACH 2 puts a special focus on ensuring that all components are nutrition-sensitive by incorporating key nutrition messages throughout project activities. Specifically, REACH 2 takes an active role in promoting nutritional awareness in targeted areas by developing and deploying information, education, and communication (IEC) messages and materials.

The following will provide an overview of the overall project achievements during the second quarter of FY 2018 – the seventh implementing quarter of REACH 2.

General Update Security During the previous reporting period, an attack on Biu market led to the imposition of a curfew by the military in Biu. The curfew was between 9 PM and 6 AM, but this has since been lifted and the situation in Biu has returned to normalcy.

The reporting period also saw significant armed opposition group (AOG) activity on the road between Biu and Damboa. AOGs set up road-blocks and robbed commercial and civilian vehicles of their goods on several occasions. This also included an attack on a civilian convoy escorted by security forces on February 26th along the same road.

In Damboa, the military conducted operations, leading to the temporary closure of all roads leading to/from Damboa for all civilian vehicles. In addition, the reporting period saw several incidents of attacks

1 Nigeria: Humanitarian Dashboard, OCHA, May 2017

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 2 by AOGs on civilians either residing or venturing outside of the secure perimeter of Damboa town. This continues to highlight the very limited area within which civilians in Damboa are secure from attacks.

Mercy Corps maintains a ban on all road movements to and from Damboa, relying instead on UNHAS helicopter flights from . Our security protocols regarding movement to and from Damboa are continuously reassessed.

Population Movements

Following the attack on Biu market in December, the mood in Biu turned against the residents of Biu IDP Camp A. The residents here are primarily Kanuri, and ethnicity not common in Biu LGA and which is sometimes unfairly associated with the AOG known as . With the association between the Kanuri residents of Camp A and Boko Haram, there is now a great push to have these camp residents relocated to Damboa.

Upon learning of the above, Mercy Corps started coordinating with other humanitarian actors in Damboa to ensure that proper facilities will be available for them upon arrival should the relocation take place. Mercy Corps will also ensure that any beneficiaries relocated from Biu to Damboa will continue to receive top-ups on their e-vouchers following a relocation.

The relocation has not yet taken place, but Mercy Corps remains alert and ready to assist the residents of Camp A should this relocation take place.

Operations During the reporting period, Damboa saw operational challenges in the form of access and fuel. While Mercy Corps continues to rely on UNHAS’ helicopter service to safely access Damboa, this became difficult as several flights were cancelled due to decreased visibility and damage to the helicopter landing pad.

A sandstorm led to decreased visibility in many parts of Nigeria, and UNHAS helicopter flights were cancelled as a result. The decreased visibility also led to the cancellation of both UNHAS and commercial fixed-wing flights between Abuja and Maiduguri during this reporting period.

This challenge was exacerbated by the helicopter landing pad in Damboa having fallen into a state of disrepair, thereby leading to UNHAS stopping flights until the pad could be repaired. The different humanitarian stakeholders in Damboa all contributed and managed to have the helipad fixed. UNHAS has continued its flights to and from Damboa, but there was a period whereby no flights took place. During this period, Mercy Corps was unable to bring staff in/out of Damboa, due to the insecurity on the roads.

While the above caused challenges to REACH 2 operations in Damboa, it did not prevent them, as the Damboa Field Office has a full-time Field Office Manager as well as program, operations, and finance staff. Despite challenges faced in using UNHAS’ helicopter service, operations continued smoothly.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 3 A further challenge was the embargo on fuel imports into Damboa. The military informed Mercy Corps and other humanitarian actors in Damboa that they suspected fuel was being diverted to AOGs. As a result, they put a stop to all fuel imports to Damboa. The ban on fuel imports lasted for three weeks, and the importation of fuel has been limited to Maiduguri only – with fuel still being banned from importation from Biu and . Mercy Corps is procuring solar panels for the office in Damboa, in order to reduce our reliability on fuel.

Humanitarian Coordination

During the reporting period, an updated Cadre Harmonise was published. Mercy Corps is pleased to see that the re-start of food voucher activities in Damboa has played a positive role, with the predicted food security situation in Damboa by June having improved from IPC Phase 4 (in the previous to Cadre Harmonise) to IPC Phase 3. This is an indication of the efforts of REACH 2 playing a positive role in stabilizing the food security situation in Damboa and preventing the otherwise predicted deterioration.

Mercy Corps also continues to host the monthly SGBV sub-working group meeting for southern Borno. During the reporting period, Mercy Corps took on the hosting of the SGBV sub-working group for Damboa LGA as well.

Staff Development During the reporting period, Mercy Corps’ Cash Manager resigned. The recruitment process was launched immediately and new Cash Manager has been recruited and will resume his duties in Q3 of FY2018.

Food Vouchers Sector #1 Objective: IDP and host community households Food Vouchers consume sufficient quantities of diverse and nutritious foods.

Beneficiaries Reached FY2018 Q2 121,259 IDPs: 91,914 Total HH: 17,702

Geographic Area Biu and Damboa LGAs,

Indicators Disaggregates

Total number of project participants Total Female Male IDPs reached to date. 125,410 60,197 65,213 91,914

Actual average cost per project participant $37.30 in FY2018 Q2.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 4 Average cost per project participant per $12.44 month in FY2018 Q2.

Progress Narrative – Food Vouchers During the reporting period, Mercy Corps reached 17,702 vulnerable, conflict-affected households in Biu and Damboa LGAs with monthly food vouchers.

Biu Incident As described in the previous quarterly report, Biu market experienced an attack by two PBIED-carriers, resulting in the deaths of 23 market-goers. Fortunately, the situation calmed down and, following consultations with security actors, local community leaders, and the market vendors, Mercy Corps determined that it was safe to resume voucher top-ups in Biu in January.

As a security measure, Mercy Corps continues to schedule top-up days on non-market days, and coordinates with the security agencies in Biu to ensure that top-ups do not coincide with other events likely to gather large crowds at the market or elsewhere.

Retargeting While the number of total beneficiaries remained at a similar level, the reporting period saw a great deal of change in the make-up of these as the retargeting exercise of the previous quarter was completed. Of the original 4,053 beneficiary households in Biu, the 3,000 most food-insecure were kept as beneficiaries, while an additional 1,194 newly registered households were added. The latter primarily included residents of the IDP camps in Biu, in particular those who were previously displaced because of the AOG attacks on Sabon Gari.

Piloting of Cash Platform During the reporting period, the Cash and Program Performance and Quality (PAQ) teams received training on the registration and identification of beneficiaries using Simprints – a biometrics’ provider. By capturing the biometrics of the beneficiaries at the point of registration, the Nagis platform will be able to use the beneficiary’s fingerprints to verify their identity.

The training was facilitated by Mercy Corps’ Cash Platform Manager and trainers from Simprints. A pilot of the Nagis platform and Simprint biometrics will take place in April. A total of 280 beneficiary households across two communities (Camp B and Miringa) will participate. The two communities were chosen on the basis that they are two contrasting communities (one rural, one urban – one with only IDPs and one with mainly host community members), which are separated from other REACH 2 communities in Biu LGA, thereby keeping the pilot relatively isolated to avoid confusion when two different types of e-vouchers are in use at the same time.

Cash Transfers Sector #2 Objective: IDP and host community households Cash Transfers reduce negative coping strategies to respond to food needs.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 5 Beneficiaries Reached FY 2018 Q2 0 IDPs: 0

Geographic Area Biu, , , and Damboa LGAs, Borno State

Indicators Disaggregates

Total number of project participants Total Female Male IDPs reached to date. 2,538 1,350 1,188 0

Actual average cost per project participant $0.00 in FY2018 Q2.

Average cost per project participant per $0.00 month in FY2018 Q2.

Progress Narrative – Cash Transfers (Cash for Work) The REACH 2 project concluded on this component during the last reporting period.

Complementary Food Security Services Sector #3 Objective: IDP and host community households reduce Complimentary Food Security Services negative coping strategies to respond to food needs.

Beneficiaries Reached FY 2018 Q2 41,865 IDPs: 0

Geographic Area Biu, Hawul, Kwaya Kusar, and Damboa LGAs, Borno State

Indicators Disaggregates

Total number of project participants reached Total Female Male IDPs to date. 98,216 85,194 13,022 552

Actual average cost per project participant in $ 0.02 FY2018 Q2.

Average cost per project participant per month $ 0.01 in FY2018 Q2.

2 Note: The members of the women’s nutrition support groups do not collect information on the IDP/host status of those they sensitize. The number here reflects only the number of IDPs currently in our women’s support groups.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 6

Progress Narrative – Complimentary Food Security Services During the reporting period, Mercy Corps conducted a training on Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) to all of the eight mothers’ nutrition support groups in Damboa LGA. With the groups in Damboa now fully operational, REACH 2 reached a total of 41,865 people with nutrition sensitization during this reporting period. A break-down of this number is found in the table below.

Mothers w. Mothers w. children children under 6 aged 6-24 Pregnant Women of child months of age months women bearing age Grandmothers Adult men

8,692 8,132 7,933 6,294 5,064 5,750

In addition to the sensitization activities taking place through the mothers’ nutrition support groups, Mercy Corps also conducted mass sensitization on key nutrition and hygiene messages. This was done using large banners (IEC material) and megaphones to ensure that everyone could see and hear the key messages. Below is a photo from one such mass sensitization event:

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 7 Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned

Lack of Access through UNHAS As described under the Operations section, during the reporting period, there were gaps in UNHAS helicopter coverage for Damboa. Given previous experiences with the isolation Damboa can be exposed to, Mercy Corps has ensured that the office is staffed and equipped to keep activities running through such periods of isolation. During the reporting period, Mercy Corps successfully conducted Post Distribution Monitoring Exercises (PDMs) relying on locally-hired enumerators, and using data- collection tablets kept in the Damboa office.

The above highlighted how keeping offices in the hard-to-reach field locations enables REACH 2 to continue serving beneficiaries despite access challenges.

High Temperatures During the reporting period, Damboa saw very high temperatures, which has posed a challenge to the tablets used by collaborating food vendors when redeeming beneficiaries’ e-vouchers. When used for extended periods of time, the tablets shut-down or freeze up as a result of over-heating.

The above is currently being addressed by having the vendors shut down the tablets for 30 minutes after each 60 minutes of transactions. Mercy Corps will endeavor to ensure that future procurement of tablets takes into consideration this challenge.

Using Town-Criers for Informing Beneficiaries In the previous quarterly report, Mercy Corps reported on how a high percentage (10%) had indicated that they were not informed of the timing of their top-up prior to receiving it. During the reporting period, Mercy Corps started using town criers to ensure that every beneficiary is reached with vital information on their entitlements and the timing of activities.

The PDMs for this reporting period has shown that only approximately 4% of the beneficiaries interviewed did not receive information on the timing of their top-up. This is a great improvement, and Mercy Corps is continuing the use of town criers to continue bringing this number down.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) During the reporting period, Mercy Corps’ PAQ team took the lead on PDM exercises in both Biu and Damboa LGAs. Highlights from the PDMs include:

• All beneficiaries interviewed had received their top-ups at the time of the PDM • Majority of beneficiaries in Biu spend a huge portion of their voucher on foods high in carbohydrates • Very few beneficiaries in Damboa (on average 3%) mentioned facing any challenges when redeeming their vouchers. • Approximately 4% of the beneficiaries mentioned that they were not informed about the top-up prior to receiving it.

Price Monitoring

During the reporting period, Mercy Corps’ PAQ team conducted bi-weekly price monitoring in the areas in which REACH 2 beneficiaries reside in order to ascertain the costs and availability of the goods for which REACH 2 beneficiaries can redeem their vouchers. The below chart shows the price fluctuations of key staples.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 8 Price Per Modu (Bowl) of Staples

1200.00

1000.00

Rice (Foreign) 800.00 Rice (Local)

600.00 Guinea corn Soya beans 400.00 Maize/Cornmeal Groundnuts 200.00 Cowpeas

0.00 Jan - 1st Jan - 2nd Feb - 1st Feb - 2nd Mar - 1st Mar - 2nd Half Half Half Half Half Half

As seen in the table above, prices have remained relatively stable, with the exception of cowpeas and imported rice. REACH 2’s operating areas are about to enter into the lean season, and prices are likely to increase further during Q2 of FY2018.

With the current market prices, the voucher value currently covers 82% of the monthly food basket for a household of 7. Mercy Corps is therefore not planning to adjust the voucher value, as it continues to cover the minimum 75% as intended by the program. Mercy Corps will continue to monitor the prices and will revisit the voucher value if needed.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 9 Actuals Table Cash Transfer Food Voucher

Planned # of Vouchers/Transfers for reporting period 0 60,000

Value of individual Voucher/ Biu LGA = 70.21 3 N/A Transfer ($USD) Damboa LGA = 64.60

Total Amount Approved ($USD) for Cash/Vouchers for reporting N/A 4,074,981.98 period

Actual # of Vouchers/ Transfers 0 Redeemed for reporting period 52,349

Total Actual Cost ($USD) for 4,552,329.30 Cash/Vouchers for reporting 6,425.03 period

Actual Number of Beneficiaries October = 0 January = 86,043 per month November = 0 February = 121,259 December = 0 March = 120,602

# of Months of Cash/Voucher 0 3 support within reporting period

Frequency of Cash/Voucher Distribution within reporting 0 3 period

Planned number of recipients 136,868 for the reporting period 0

Actual number of recipients 0 121,259 reached for reporting period

Time from signed agreement to first distribution to beneficiaries N/A N/A (if applicable to this reporting period)

3 Using the exchange rate of 356.031 NGN = 1 USD.

MERCY CORPS REACH 2: FY2018 Q2 Quarterly Report 10