Standard Project Report 2016
appropriate as they were travelling with very few possessions and were new to the location. The reason that fewer than planned beneficiaries were reached is that, beginning in September 2016, the flow of undocumented returnees from Pakistan slowed significantly, and about half of the planned number of people to be assisted, entered Afghanistan.
After three months of initial food assistance, WFP planned to provide cash assistance through the SCOPE platform, a beneficiary and transfer management system. Although not initially planned, CBT was indicated as a viable option by a rapid market assessment in Nangarhar province which also recommended that markets and market prices should continue to be monitored. Vulnerable documented refugee returnees would receive WFP support only after three months, as they had initially received a USD 400 per person cash grant from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees( UNHCR) on their arrival at the UNHCR encashment centre.
WFP Afghanistan ' s introduction of SCOPE was part of a global rollout, to more efficiently and effectively register beneficiaries, manage distributions( cash, vouchers and in-kind food), and generate information for monitoring and evaluation and reporting. A SCOPE assessment was carried out and the implementation plan was prepared in September 2016. WFP also successfully piloted the use of remote data collection, through the mobile vulnerability analysis and mapping( mVAM) application. The mVAM was used to monitor local food market conditions, ensure that markets were able to support the cash assistance programme, and facilitate the adjustment of programmes based on evolving market conditions.
Cash distribution was first piloted by WFP Afghanistan in October 2016, targeting 300 households in Helmand province, 200 households in Herat, 160 in Kabul city and 150 in Laghman province. Subsequent analysis showed that cash distribution was: i) more cost-effective as compared to in-kind food assistance in the certain areas, ii) feasible in Afghanistan’ s well-developed and integrated urban markets and iii) preferred by targeted recipients as cash provided beneficiaries with the choice and dignity to meet their food needs with locally preferred food items.
Strategic Objective 4: Reduce undernutrition and break the intergenerational cycle of hunger.
Outcome: Reduced undernutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies among children aged 6-59 months, pregnant and lactating women, and school-age children.
Activity: Treatment of moderate acute malnutrition( MAM).
The treatment of MAM programmes through targeted supplementary feeding in six districts of Nangarhar province, one district of Kunar province and one district of Laghman province were reinforced to respond to increased cases of malnutrition among the new arrivals.
Major activities included screening children and pregnant and lactating women( PLW) for acute undernutrition, referral and admission into the programme, and subsequent assessment of improvements in their nutritional status. Children with MAM admitted into the programme received ready-to-use supplementary food( RUSF), Acha Mum, and changes in their nutritional status were monitored on a bi-weekly basis until they reached the target mid-upper arm circumference( MUAC) or weight before being discharged. Children whose status was static or deteriorating were referred for appropriate medical or therapeutic treatment. Pregnant and lactating women received a mix of basic fortified food items( wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, iodised salt and micronutrient tablets) on a monthly basis and were discharged from the programme when their infant reached six months of age. Special attention was given to counsel the PLW and caregivers of children admitted to the programme on infant and young child feeding practices for the length of time they were in the programme.
Activity: Prevention of acute malnutrition
To prevent a peak in the incidence of acute malnutrition during the displacement and settlement of the returnees in the six targeted districts of Nangarhar province, WFP planned to implement a prevention of acute malnutrition programme through blanket supplementary feeding, targeting all children aged 6-23 months from the most vulnerable households regardless of their nutritional status. The specialised nutritious food( SNF), Wawa Mum, was included in the general distribution( GD) food basket for vulnerable households with children aged 6 – 23 months to ensure that there was appropriate complementary food for young children. The SNF arrived in Afghanistan in December, with actual distribution starting in January 2017. The delay in arrival of Wawa Mum to Afghanistan was as a result of the demand on the Pakistan-based suppliers from both sides of the border. For this reason, the lead-time was increased up to six months, a significant change from 6 to 7 weeks, which was WFP ' s anticipated lead time for the previous three years. Also, in the last quarter of 2016 and early 2017, supplies from Pakistan were not enough to meet the requirements of the two countries. WFP Afghanistan resorted to purchasing some of the RUSF from international sources, for which the procurement and transportation lead time reached up to four months.
Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of( AF) 15 Single Country EMOP- 201024