WFP Mozambique country brief, January 2018

Highlights

• On 17 January, the northern provinces were hit by a tropical depression which brought heavy rains and flooding. WFP supported the government response via food assistance in Nampula.
• WFP is initiating a Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) treatment programme in districts with the highest levels of wasting.
• Made possible through Russian debt swap, implementation of the national school feeding programme, including capacity strengthening, is underway.

Operational Updates

• Tropical depression: A total of 80,000 people were affected in Nampula, Cabo Delgado, and Niassa. The event caused the death of 14 people, displacement and infrastructure and crop damages. In Nampula, following a government request, WFP provided food support to 37,000 people (16.5 mt of oil and 33.35 mt of pulses) while the other commodities were provided by INGC.
• Nutrition: WFP and UNICEF, with support from DFID, are assisting the districts with the highest levels of wasting, as highlighted by the IPC analysis last year. This will cover districts in Cabo Delgado, Zambezia, Manica and Tete. In addition to food support, protocols for wasting treatment will also be strengthened.
• Fill the Nutrient Gap: The FNG initiative is an advocacy tool that identifies ways to make nutritious food more affordable and accessible to the most vulnerable populations, including children under the age of five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, women of child bearing age and people living with HIV. The FNG will be launched with the new national strategy for food and nutrition security (ESAN III) in October 2018.
• Food Assistance for Assets: WFP is currently implementing resilience support through food and vouchers for asset creation. The assistance is implemented in five provinces (Tete, Sofala, Zambézia, Gaza and Maputo) assisting 219,000 beneficiaries following the three-pronged approach (3PA – Integrated Context Analysis, Seasonal Livelihood Programming and Community-Based Participatory Planning).
• Cash Based Transfers: From August to January, a total of 58,335 beneficiaries were registered in SCOPE (WFP’s beneficiary and transfer management system) across Tete (Moatize, Marara and Chiuta districts) and Sofala (Dondo) provinces. Distributions through SCOPE cards are ongoing in Tete and planned to start in Sofala. The Cash Working Group (CWG), chaired by WFP and World Vision, is planning a joint market assessment.
• Market access: Fourteen Farmers Organisations, consisting of 11,300 farmers, (in Manica, Tete, Zambezia and Nampula provinces) will continue to receive technical assistance and training (in postharvest management, business organization, food quality, and gender). Two of these Farmers Organisations will be able to sell 90 metric tons of maize and 30 metric tons of pulses to WFP Mozambique in 2018. WFP aims to mobilise 2,000 additional farmers and distribute 40,000 hermetic bags, coupled with capacity building.

Original source and full report: WFP
Published on 31 January 2018