Standard Project Report 2016
Project Activities
Strategic Objective: Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies( SO1)
Outcome: Stabilised or improved food consumption over assistance period for targeted households and / or individuals
Activity: Food assistance intervention through cash-based transfers
The three activities carried out by WFP during the emergency response were: 1) an initial rapid needs assessment in flood- and landslide-affected areas, followed by a market assessment; 2) targeted cash-based transfers for the most vulnerable food-insecure households who lost their productive and personal assets( including agricultural land) and sources of livelihood; and 3) strengthening the capacity of the Government through the Divineguma safety net banking system combined with a mapping exercise and staff capacity development.
Conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Disaster Management, the initial rapid needs assessment of the flood- and landslide-affected districts of Colombo, Gampaha Ratnapura and Kegalle was carried out within the first week of the disaster, and subsequently informed the development of the EMOP.
In order to assess the feasibility of using cash-based transfers, WFP assisted the Government to carry out a mapping of the banks in the affected areas. A market assessment was also conducted immediately after the rapid needs assessment in the severely-affected districts, which confirmed that markets were functional and supply routes were unaffected, enabling households to purchase necessary food items to meet their basic nutritional requirements.
The EMOP was designed to provide relief assistance through cash-based transfers for 40,000 people( 10,000 households) in four severely-affected districts, who were identified as being in need of food assistance, for a period of three months. Additional people in need of assistance but not covered by WFP ' s operation were assisted by the Government and other organizations.
The cash-based transfer value of USD 15 per person per month was calculated based on the market price of a basket of basic food items providing the standard daily energy requirement of 2,100 kcal per person. The transfer value per household was based on the number of household members, with a ceiling value of USD 60 set per household considering the average Sri Lankan household size of four people.
The Divineguma programme, the country’ s largest social safety net system, implemented under the Department of Divineguma Development, was identified as an appropriate targeting mechanism to reach the affected communities using cash-based transfers. Divineguma has a network of 1,075 community development banks across the country. In addition to food assistance provided through its emergency response, WFP worked with the Government to explore the potential of developing Divineguma into a shock-agile social safety net in the future given its wide scale and geographic coverage.
The selection of households eligible for assistance was done using a community participatory approach and verified by a team comprised of the village Divineguma development officer, the agriculture research and extension officer, village administrative officer, disaster management officer, community leaders, village representatives and members of welfare societies. WFP conducted an independent screening and verification of the beneficiary lists using WFP-adapted tools to ensure that only flood- and landslide-affected households were included.
It was estimated that 90 percent of the planned beneficiaries were already Divineguma recipients, as they were living below the poverty line prior to the cyclone. Therefore, the primary beneficiary criteria for relief was beneficiaries ' residence in the most severe flood- and landslide-affected village clusters; enrolment in the Divineguma programme; and beneficiaries ' inability to meet their daily dietary needs without additional assistance. Furthermore, a secondary selection criteria was used to prioritise households, including those who: i) were unable to return home in the short term; ii) had significant damage to their homes; and iii) had significant losses to their livelihoods and assets. The project targeted households rather than individuals, so households with pregnant or lactating women( PLW), infants or young children, as well as disabled or elderly household members, were also included.
WFP identified additional households that were not included in the Divineguma social safety net programme but were severely affected by the disaster, estimated at ten percent of the planned beneficiaries. WFP supported these families to open accounts with the Divineguma bank so they could receive assistance through the project. The inclusion of affected people who were not already registered in the Divineguma programme into the social safety net programme was an innovative and forward-thinking approach to support the Government to enhance the ability of their safety net to respond in case of an emergency.
With the objective of developing the Government ' s technical capacity, 47 national, regional, and local government officials were trained on community targeting, beneficiary selection, effective and efficient use of cash-based
Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of( LK) 14 Single Country EMOP- 200990