WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 534

Standard Project Report 2016
Between 2015 and 2016 the situation of food insecurity among smallholder farmers in Central Mindanao became
life threatening as a result of a) an increasingly deteriorating security situation; and b) extreme climatic changes (El
Niño/La Niña), leading to a near state of emergency that was endangering the lives and livelihoods of thousands of
families in the region. An emergency food security assessment carried out in April 2016 identified that Central
Mindanao was experiencing an alarming deterioration of household income, food access and consumption, and
nutrition security. Twenty-two percent of households (equal to 47,000 households or 282,000 people) were severely
food-insecure, having extremely high food consumption gaps as a result of their loss of livelihood and assets. This
result was a steep increase from only 3 percent of the households in the assessment carried out a year earlier.
In order to complement the local authorities, WFP carried out immediate life-saving assistance and provided rice to
43,000 of the most vulnerable food-insecure individuals in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. The rice distribution
was linked to small-scale asset-creation projects, which aimed to increase production and market access and
provide alternative livelihoods.
In November 2016, the security situation deteriorated in parts of Lanao del Sur as a result of the law enforcement
activities of the Government of the Philippines against a local terrorist group, the Maute. The armed encounter
caused displacement, and following a request from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) authorities, WFP planned to provide high energy biscuits (HEBs) to 6,000 beneficiaries in evacuation
centres. The HEBs were dispatched from the warehouse in December 2016, but these HEBs were distributed to the
beneficiaries in January 2017. For this reason, the distribution of these HEBs was not reflected in the Annual Project
Beneficiaries by Activity graph below.
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Strategic Objective:
Support or restore food security and nutrition and establish or rebuild livelihoods in fragile settings and following
emergencies (SO2)
Outcome:
Adequate food consumption reached or maintained over assistance period for targeted households
Activities:
Food assistance for assets (in Maguindanao, Lanao Del Norte, and Lanao Del Sur provinces)
Municipalities that are under the normalisation area, with high poverty index, and high commitment from the local
government units and the Department of Agrarian Reform were selected as intervention areas for food for assets
(FFA), school meals, and nutrition activities. At the ARMM level, WFP provided technical support in the review and
implementation of the humanitarian and development action plan and also for the poverty alleviation
programme—Apat na Dapat. ARMM staff and officers were also trained and assisted in conducting the emergency
food security assessment.
Community needs assessments were conducted to determine what type of projects were necessary to improve their
food security and resilience to shocks. These included agriculture projects such as: crop planting, vegetable
gardening, and irrigation; support to access roads such as farm-to-market roads and tire-path construction; and
small-scale infrastructure such as construction of health stations, drainage canals, waterways, and multi-purpose
centres. All projects were implemented in coordination with the local government units, other government ministries,
and support from communities.
Beneficiaries of the FFA projects received cash and food (rice) entitlements. Cash was the preferred modality of the
FFA beneficiaries as this allowed them to buy other food items such as protein-rich fish, meat and eggs, and fresh
vegetables.
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Strategic Objective:
Support or restore food security and nutrition and establish or rebuild livelihoods in fragile settings and following
emergencies (SO2)
Outcome:
Improved access to assets and/or basic services, including community and market infrastructure; capacity
developed to address national food insecurity needs
Activities:
On-site school meals and food assistance for assets (in Maguindanao, Lanao Del Norte, and Lanao Del Sur)
Pre-school and primary school children were supported through the school meals programme that encouraged them
to go to school and helped address issues of short-term hunger. The school meals were complemented by the
communities and local authorities through the provision of eggs, fish, chicken, and vegetables, as well as firewood
for cooking. Construction of kitchens and the provision of water, sanitation, and health (WASH) facilities were also
provided. In July 2016, WFP distributed kitchen pots to all schools in Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte, and Lanao del
Sur in response to the challenges faced by the parents-teachers association in the implementation of the school
meals programme. Through a partnership with the international non-governmental organization, Goldin Institute,
WFP delivered 40 hand pumps to schools in Central Mindanao in an effort to bring clean water to the schools and
Philippines, Republic of the (PH)
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