WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 541

Standard Project Report 2016
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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)
On average, WFP was able to achieve its targets for two out of three corporate indicators in 2016. Based on the
combined results of the two cycles of data collection (June and December 2016), the Coping Strategy Index (CSI) of
the households was less than the target score of 15. CSI measures the frequency and severity of the behaviours in
which the households engage in when faced with food shortages. A lower index or score means that fewer food
consumption-based strategies were used, which implies an improvement of the food security situation of the
household. The improvement was evident for households headed by both males and females (11.7 and 14.6
respectively). The data showed that the households resorted to fewer coping mechanisms due to the availability of
food and nutrition lifelines provided by the national and local government units and WFP.
Aside from CSI, the mean scores on dietary diversity showed that the target scores set by WFP for households
headed by males and females (5.5 and 5.7, respectively) were achieved as per the outcome monitoring conducted
in the first half of the year. The dietary diversity score measures the number of different food groups consumed over
a given period and it provides an estimation of the quality of a diet. However, the outcome monitoring conducted in
the last quarter of the year showed a deterioration in the diet diversity score of the households. This was largely a
negative effect due to the impact of the El Niño which ravaged a large portion of Mindanao in the first half of the
year and the seasonality of events in the country. Based on the emergency food security assessment (EFSA)
undertaken by WFP and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) government in March 2016, the drought
caused by the El Niño prevented 23 percent of the farmers in WFP programme areas from cultivating their lands for
three consecutive cropping seasons since 2015. Naturally, by the second half of the year, these households were
reeling from the impact of the drought. Not only were they without their farm produce, they were likewise challenged
to plant anything because the second half of the year is typically the typhoon season in the Philippines. Heavy rains
caused by typhoons normally bring floods to many areas in the region. The second half of 2016 ushered in a La
Niña season for the country.
Aside from the natural shocks, the people had to contend with human-induced events. In 2016, the second half of
the year saw the introduction of new government administrators after a national and local elections were held in
May. By that time, many of the newly-elected officials were instituting a transition. Thus, many public service
programmes were temporarily suspended. Even the humanitarian agencies had to put on hold the delivery of some
services to allow for the establishment of common understanding with the new administrations. Also last year,
sporadic armed clashes between local clans (rido) and armed groups and the Philippine military were reported,
especially in the municipality of Butig in the province of Lanao del Sur. These encounters limited access to some
districts within the WFP programme areas.
All these events, especially those occurring in the second half of the year, contributed to the target
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