Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Chad

Chad: Lean Season Response Operational Update #1 (6 June 2018)

Attachments

To prevent vulnerable communities from sliding deeper into food insecurity and malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners deliver food and nutritional assistance throughout the lean season. WFP provides life-saving food and nutritional support to some 700,000 vulnerable Chadians. Among them, some 131,084 people-at-risk (87,384 children aged 6-23 months and 43,695 pregnant and lactating women) receive specialized nutritious foods and social behaviour change measures on key nutrition and health family practices to prevent malnutrition. Screening is done through the food and nutrition assistance platform to facilitate early detection and referral of moderate and acute malnutrition cases to the nearest health facilities.

An early lean season

Food and nutritional assistance started in the region of Wadi Fira, where evidence of aggravating factors required an early response. This region faces a third consecutive year of severe rainfall deficit, which has negatively impacted agricultural and pasture production. Vulnerable population in Wadi Fira will receive food and nutritional support for five months.

In other five regions of the Sahelian belt – Lac, Kanem, Batha, Barh el Gazel and Guéra – assistance is planned from June to September (four months). The Ouaddai region will be assisted too, if there is available funding.

Response

  • Distributions: Distributions started mid-May in Wadi Fira, at half-ration level. In the first week, in-kind food assistance reached 5,899 households (35,391 people). 2,689 children and 1,460 pregnant and lactating women (PLW) received nutritional supplements.

  • Trainings: During April and May, WFP organized trainings for its staff in the field and for cooperating partners on targeting, nutrition, monitoring & evaluation, the use of different transfer modalities, compliance to donor requirements and GPS coordinate collection (practical session). This sought to build a common understanding on procedures and to harmonize practices across the country. Using a cascade approach, those that participated in these sessions relayed the acquired knowledge to their colleagues.

  • Targeting: Identification of the most vulnerable households in need of assistance almost concluded in Wadi Fira, where distributions kicked-off on 15 May. To target nutritional assistance to children, WFP and its partners carried out mid-upper arm circumference screening. Targeting is ongoing in Lac, Barh El Gazel, Kanem, Batha and Guéra.

  • Nutrition: Going beyond emergency response, the nutritional approach seeks to address immediate causes of malnutrition. Large-scale awareness activities are carried out to promote adequate nutrition and health practices. In April, 36 WFP staff participated in a 3-day training on nutritional programming in N’Djamena: this sought to enhance the performance of first-line implementers.