Emergency food security and livelihoods support to the most vulnerable households affected by the May 2021 hostilities in the Gaza strip This project aims at ensuring the food security in the Gaza Strip of the HHs most affected by the 11-day May hostilities, and notably those who were displaced due to the destruction of their homes, as well as supporting small-scale farmers in recovering their livelihoods. ACTED and the Arab Centre for Agricultural Development (ACAD) will propose an intervention to respond to immediate critical needs in the Gaza strip through the provision of (MPCA), and restricted cash grants to purchase agricultural assets and cover other expenses related to their basic needs. In total, 670 highly vulnerable HHs, representing approximately 3,685 individuals, will benefit from the intervention. ACTED and ACAD, a Palestinian Organisation which targets marginalized and poor communities by supporting their small agricultural enterprises, will build on their joint technical expertise and strong acceptance within target communities due to long-standing field presence, to implement the proposed activities: 

1. ACTED will provide 520 of the most vulnerable HHs (around 2,860individuals) in all Gaza strip who have yet to receive assistance, affected by the most recent escalation of hostilities, with 2,634 NIS as three instalments of MPCA (878NIS per instalment), as per CWG's guidelines and as recommended by  (MoSD) to ensure that they can cover their basic needs while recovering from the shock and build their resilience. MPCA will notably be provided to HHs with specific needs (i.e. pregnant and lactating women, families with children, families including PwDs), among the list of the most affected by hostilities , to give them flexibility in how to best meet their specific needs

2. ACTED will provide 150 of the most vulnerable small-scale farmers in Rafah, Middle Area and Khan Younis governorates with restricted cash grants of a total worth of around 3,000 NIS divided into three instalments. The grants will support these farmers in buying agricultural inputs. Ultimately, farmers and their HHs (825 individuals) will be supported in recovering from the loss or reduction of income as a result of the recent escalation in hostilities, while also ensuring the continuity of food production activities, and thereby ensuring food supply remains stable and covers consumers’ nutritional needs. These cash assistance will be provided over a period of 2 months, considering the needs related to the seasonality, in order to ensure the best effectiveness of the assistance provided. The cash grant will be distributing with the first two instalments each representing 40% of the total amount (1,200 NIS) and the last one accounting for the last 20% (600 NIS). ACTED will also allow these farmers to spend part of these grants to cover costs related to their basic needs, while recovering from the recent shock. 

The selection processes will prioritize extremely poor beneficiary (HHs or farmers) who lost or significantly reduced their source of income, of livelihood due the hostilities, as well as specific vulnerable groups such as female-headed HHs, HHs with children, elderly members, and people with disabilities.

The proposed intervention is in line with the FSS’s objectives of the Third Reserve Allocation Strategy Paper: (1) Providing emergency and recovery food assistance, including cash, electronic voucher and in-kind commodities and (2) Restoring productive capacities and livelihoods of small-scale herders, farmers, and fishers, both directly linked to the Humanitarian Response Plan Strategic Objective 3. The proposed activities were developed in full coordination with the Food Security Sector (FSS), FSS partners such as PUI and AAH, MoSD, MoA, and using a bottom-up participatory approach based on information gathered in the field through ACTED’s CBPCs. The intervention will allow ACTED to scale up its existing food security response in Gaza, and is easy to scale further in order to reach more vulnerable HHs, based on the FSS’ priorities and available funding.