Emergency food and nutrition security support to disadvantaged (IDPs, returnees) and vulnerable host community households in three Payam(Malek Miir, Pamat and Jaac payams) areas of Aweil North County in Lol (Northern Bahr El Ghazal) state of South Sudan The emergency food and nutrition security project is a dual sub-sector (fisheries and horticulture) response which will run for 4 months from Sept – Dec 2016. Main goal of the project is “to provide immediate availability/access to nutritious food by supporting the livelihoods of ‘food and nutrition insecure’households of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable IDPs, returnees and host communities” in the 5 payams of Aweil North. The project directly targets 5,000 vulnerable households of primarily IDPs (30%) , returnees (20%) and host community (50%) . The beneficiaries will be targeted basing on context and the results of the needs assessments undertaken by SPEDP and other agencies in the state. 
The main objectives of the intervention are to:
1.Alleviatethe immediate short-term food insecurity outcomes of the target households.
2. Provide production inputs and skills training to enhance the food and nutrition security of the target beneficiaries.
The project will focus mainly on the following activities: 1) provision of production inputs (vegetable seeds, tools and fishing gears) 2) provision of basic agronomic training and extension support, through community-based extension workers 3) SPEDP will also do MampE, reporting and coordination with relevant stakeholders to effect complementarity, maximize synergies and contribute to project sustainability. 

Aweil North and East received the highest number of returnees from Sudan and have been identified as some of South Sudan’s most vulnerable counties for poor access to sufficient and nutritious food (FSNMS Round 18, 2016) and anthropometric results indicating Gam and SAM rates of 32.7 and 4.7 respectively GAM rate being the highest so far in the last 3 years. In another Assessment (Med Air, 2016), evidence corroborated that the displacements in Aweil North were mainly attributed to food insecurity with a few from Wau, Rubkon,Bentiu etc., due to conflicts. The same assessment report also confirms very high levels of malnutrition, proxy GAM by MUAC of 34.8% and SAM of 12.7%, in under-five children in 2 locations. Another report, (SEPDP Emergency WASH/FSL, 2016), confirms that food insecurity has been experienced by the local population in NBeG region way before the usual/yearly lean periodor hunger gapas early as in January 2016. A number of factors are known to predispose these conditions including a) chronic erosion of ability to access enough and quality food, worsened by economic crises and poor production in 2016 including decrease in area cultivated by 16% from 2.4 Feddans in 2015 (FSNMS Round 18, 2016). This created a knock-on effect of multiple shocks from 2015 i.e. early season dry spells, high food prices, lack of alternative incomes, human and livestock diseases. The latter have exacerbated the intense livestock migration due to inadequate/limited pastures and water. Low rains and below normal flooding have also resulted in decline of fishing activities affecting fish quantities and access to them. These have further been exacerbated by poor road network, low commercial supplies from South Sudan and Sudan corridors into NBeG state.  To alleviate this condition, the 10% well-off depend on own produced food while the 90% poor mostly relied on hire of casual labour, sale of alcohol, kinship support (food gifts) and extraction of natural resources – firewood and charcoal – which have negative impact on the environment if not controlled. Target communities have employed strategies, including eating less preferred foods, limiting meal size, food gathering and sale of livestock to cope with continuing deterioration of food insecurity, as a result of six-fold increase in food prices which affects NBeG communities 80% of whom rely on market for food access. For the above reasons, target communities have prioritized the need for provision of inputs for food production (seeds, tools, fishing gear) and training in crops (vegetables) and fish preservation/proces