Food assistance to food insecure IPC Phase 3 and 4 vulnerable people in IPC Phase 4 classified areas Afghanistan faces a complex emergency, with combination of protracted conflict, the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and climate change. Afghanistan’s 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) shows escalating suffering and hunger, with 18.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and Afghanistan as having the second highest number of people in emergency food insecurity in the world (IPC Phase 4). The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, published in April 2021, shows that over 14 million people (35 percent of the population) face acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse) between March and May 2021, including 4.2 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity and requiring immediate assistance. Targeted provinces under this contribution are among the 10 high priority provinces targeted under the Afghanistan Spring Disaster Contingency Plan [1]. The 2021 IPC analysis shows that Faryab and Ghor provinces face emergency levels of acute food-insecurity (IPC Phase 4), with 55 percent of households in both provinces experiencing poor levels of food consumption and over 80 percent of households experiencing either poor or borderline food consumption [2]. In addition, 93 percent of households in Ghor and 57 percent of households in Faryab have to resort to emergency or crisis livelihood coping strategies such as the sale of productive assets and borrowing money to buy food [3]. The drought conditions driven by La Niña, lingering socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and escalating levels of conflict are further compounding the food security situation of a population which was already on the brink of a hunger crisis.

In response to these needs, WFP aims to use this funding to provide unconditional, nutrition-sensitive in-kind food assistance to acutely food-insecure people in five districts in Faryab and Ghor provinces. Both provinces have been classified as facing IPC Phase 4 levels of acute food insecurity. WFP plans to provide a total of 1,976 MT worth of emergency in-kind assistance to 57,594 acutely food-insecure people (8,228 households) in Shirin Tagab, Khwaja Sabzposh, Almarin districts in Faryab province, and Taywara and Sagher districts in Ghor province. Targeted households will receive a monthly in-kind nutritionally balanced food basket comprised of 46kg of fortified wheat flour, 4.55kg of fortified vegetable oil, 8.5kg of pulses, and 1kg of iodized salt. Households will receive in-kind food assistance for four months in two cycles of two months each within the project implementation period. WFP’s in-kind assistance is aligned with the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster’s (FSAC) recommended guidelines on humanitarian response packages. WFP aims to prevent people facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity from falling below acceptable levels of food security, bridge critical food gaps whilst increasing food consumption levels, as well as prevent vulnerable households from having to resort to negative coping strategies that would further compound their vulnerability to food insecurity. Food assistance will be provided with full consideration of COVID-19 preventive measures.