Emergency Assistance to Drought-affected Population in Swaziland

This operation has been modified as per budget revision 2 (see below)

With its onset in early 2015, the current El Niño event is one of the strongest on record. The southern Africa region is the hardest hit region globally, with some 32 million people, or nearly half of the entire current global caseload, affected by food insecurity, in large part due to El Niño’s impact.

There is around a 50 percent chance of a La Niña episode developing from the second half of  2016, though any potential impact remains unclear at this stage. La Niña is characterized by increased rains and the possibility of flooding. Coordinated preparedness efforts ahead of a potential La Niña and planning for longer-term resilience activities will also be key.

In view of the unfolding crisis, the Prime Minister of Swaziland declared a national state of emergency on 18 February 2016 and launched the government’s National Emergency Response Mitigation and Adaptation Plan (NERMAP). The Government of Swaziland has requested technical and financial assistance from the international community to support the emergency response plan. A projected 320,000 people are affected by the drought and in need

of food assistance in 2016, with this number likely to increase at the peak of the lean season.

This Emergency Operation (EMOP 200974) will follow WFP’s on-going immediate response to the drought caused by El Niño (IR-EMOP 200954). WFP will provide emergency food and cash-based assistance to 150,000 drought affected people through this operation. The assistance is planned for ten months until March 2017, coinciding with the next harvest. WFP will closely monitor the situation, and if further assessments show increased needs, the scale

and length of this operation will be reviewed.

WFP will provide technical assistance to the National Disaster Management Authority to enhance early warning systems and support national disaster preparedness and mitigation measures, linking with existing WFP Development Projects in the country.

Food assistance under this EMOP will complement the activities under on-going WFP’s Development Projects in Swaziland, aimed at addressing food insecurity and nutritional needs of most vulnerable groups affected by HIV. Through its technical assistance component, and efforts to link the emergency response to resilience building, the EMOP will also contribute to the longer term WFP’s strategy in the country, which aims at promoting full national ownership and management of food and nutrition security interventions.

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Budget revision 2 to Swaziland EMOP 200974 will revise the duration and requirements, extending in time the operation by one months. The extension will allow to finalize distribution of cash based transfers in May 2017, according to the resources already available in the project, and conduct final post-distribution monitoring activities.