Responding to Humanitarian Crises and Transitioning Food-Insecure Groups to More Resilient Strategies

This operation has been modified as per budget revision 6.

Despite rapid and sustained economic growth, Ethiopia remains one of the least developed and poorest countries in the world. Poverty and food insecurity are linked in that food consumption in the poorest households is likely to be “unacceptable”; vulnerability to food insecurity is linked to population pressure, weather, diseases and land degradation.

The operation is aligned with the Government’s Growth Transformation Plan, whose objectives are a sustainable increase in rural incomes and sustainable enhancement of national food and nutrition security. A national social protection policy has been drafted and a disaster risk management policy is in place.

This operation augments government programmes and policies addressing structural food insecurity and malnutrition in disaster-prone areas. The objectives are to transition chronically food-insecure households to a predictable safety net, to provide emergency food assistance for vulnerable households in periods of stress and to address malnutrition through a combination of preventative and curative approaches.

Cash and voucher transfers, including fresh food vouchers to promote nutrition and dietary diversity, will be considered where markets can respond, and WFP will expand local food purchases and domestic production of fortified blended food.

This operation is intended to develop government capacities in disaster risk management, support the National Nutrition Programme, and enhance the Government's capacities to implement programmes addressing early warning, food security analysis, emergency needs assessments, food management systems and resilience.

The operation is consistent with Strategic Objectives 1, 3 and 4, the sustainable economic growth, risk reduction and basic social services outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and Millennium Development Goals 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7.