WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 722

Standard Project Report 2016
populations that required assistance and signed a technical cooperation agreement with WFP to implement the
actual distribution.
As WFP did not have a prior presence in PNG, WFP sought an experienced partner that could implement the food
distributions. WFP entered into a partnership agreement with CARE International based on their extensive
experience in the country and expression of interest to operate in the highlands, where the security situation was
volatile. Although the agreement with CARE was for two distribution rounds, CARE withdrew from the operation in
August after the first round because of security concerns.
Coordination with local churches was a vital component for carrying out operations in country, particularly in remote
areas that lacked a strong government presence. WFP relied on church pastors, who were long-established
community leaders, to engage community members and disseminate information regarding WFP distributions.
Church pastors also arranged for porters to offload and store rice safely. Local churches and pastors played key
roles in the operation because of their experience at the ground level. Given the short-term nature of the operation,
WFP did not invest in developing the capacity of the churches in food distribution planning and implementation.
Performance Monitoring
WFP conducted regular observational monitoring of drought-affected communities but had limited capacity to
conduct active monitoring on the ground because of the high costs of operating in remote areas. Instead, WFP
relied on remote monitoring of drought-affected communities through mobile Vulnerability, Analysis and Mapping
(mVAM) methodology.
From January–February 2016, the National Disaster Centre conducted an mVAM assessment to determine the food
security conditions across the country. The assessment included interviews of 3,708 people through a mobile
operator. All Local Level Governments (LLG) experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions as per the 2015
government assessment were included.
Communities across Milne Bay Province were not fully represented in the mVAM survey because of a lack of mobile
network coverage. Therefore, WFP and partners re-assessed these communities in a follow-up survey that utilised
a combination of community discussion, observational monitoring and mVAM tools. Data were collected from 46
communities across eight LLGs by three deployment teams.
WFP food aid monitors were present at general distributions and were accompanied by a government official and
team of volunteers or staff. Monitors confirmed household numbers and reconciled any discrepancies between
individuals appearing on beneficiary lists and individuals receiving rations on distribution day. WFP recorded
distribution locations (GPS coordinates) with tablets and documented the distribution with photos. WFP monitored
distribution sites in remote areas more closely through observation and informal interviews.
WFP conducted a second-round, post-EMOP assessment from November to December 2016 to build upon the
findings of the January–February 2016 survey and asses the recovery of food security and livelihoods following the
El Niño. The sampling methodology prioritised households that were reached during the first assessment so that the
first and second assessments could be compared.
There were some limitations in the selection of mVAM as a monitoring mechanism. Mobile surveys tend to skew
results towards better-off households in urban areas, who own mobile phones. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), while
80 percent of the country has mobile coverage, 65-70 percent of the population do not own mobile phones. Given
the inherent bias in mobile surveys, it is important to note that the results of this survey should not be seen as
precise estimates of food insecurity, but rather as a way of capturing patterns and relative levels of food insecurity
from one area to the other.
Results/Outcomes
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•
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Strategic Objective
: Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies (Strategic Objective 1)
Outcome 1
: Stabilised or improved food consumption over assistance period for targeted households and/or individuals
Activity
: General distribution in Enga, Hela, Western, Milne Bay, and Southern Highlands Provinces
Despite WFP's limited experience in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the logistics challenges of the remote
operation, WFP successfully reached 268,107 people in urgent need of food assistance. WFP surpassed planned
Papua New Guinea, Independant State of (PG)
14
Single Country EMOP - 200966