Refugees in Zambia receive WFP cash assistance for the first time

In May, WFP is initially targeting 1,500 Congolese refugees in the WFP-supported Mantapala Settlement, with the plan to gradually scale up and eventually reach the entire refugee population residing there, currently standing at about 14,300 people. In the meantime, with COVID-19 precautionary measures in place, WFP will continue to provide food to the other refugees. Facilitated by WFP and the Ministry of Health, awareness-raising sessions and a robust social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) campaign about the importance of good nutrition and a diverse diet will accompany WFP assistance.

‘’Cash transfers are a form of assistance that empower refugees. It allows them to buy different types of food and choose what to consume, contributing to diversifying their diets. From experience elsewhere, cash assistance also helps stimulate the local markets and foster peaceful coexistence between refugees and host community, including local traders’’, said WFP Zambia Representative, Jennifer Bitonde.

WFP’s plan is to provide each refugee with ZMW 155 (US$ 8.5) per month, enough to meet their daily food and nutrition needs, based on the market price of a standard food basket. Due to insufficient funding, WFP is being forced to halve the cash transfer value and food entitlements for May. The plan is to shift back to full entitlements for both food and cash as additional funding become available. US$ 1.6 million is currently required to resume full entitlements and scale-up cash assistance from June 2020 to the end of the year.

Results from 2019 monitoring showed that when faced with food insecurity, refugees often cope by reducing the number of meals they consume or selling their productive assets, which further deteriorates their food and nutrition security. It is crucial that donors continue to support WFP’s refugee response in Zambia to ensure refugees can fully meet their daily food and nutrition needs.                                                                       

As Ms Bitonde stressed, “While WFP is very grateful to its donors without whose generosity refugees would not survive, we appeal to their continued support, as WFP’s assistance remains refugees’ main source of food. Sixty-six (66) percent of refugee children under five are stunted. They cannot afford to skip another meal.”

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