Improving food security and livelihoods of conflict affected IDPs and Returnees in Salah Al Din and Anbar Governorate The Food Security Cluster in Iraq estimates that about 47,000 out of camp internally displaced persons (IDPs) as well as 427,000 returnees are food insecure. Out of these 427,000, around 200,480 returnees live in Al-Anbar and Salah Al-Din governorates. Due to the impact of COVID19 on the food security, as well as the recent camp closures, vulnerable IDPs and returnees are at a high risk of being food insecure and therefore in need of safeguarding their existing livelihoods options. 
In order to address urgent food security needs of the vulnerable population in Al-Anbar and Salah Al Din governorates and set them of better path towards resilience, To protect livelihoods sources, the partnership of ZOA, PIN (INGOs), SSDF, and WEO (NNGOs) will implement a coordinated and sector-focused intervention in non-formal settlements of priority areas with a high concentration of IDPs and returnees in Al-Anbar and Salah Al Din governorates. The intervention will provide beneficiaries with the means to cover immediate food needs in their households while improving their medium-term food security prospects. This will be achieved through a combination of CASH Plus activities (providing financial support along with material assets and trainings) and Cash for Work (CfW) activities (which will help recover communal irrigation infrastructure) safeguard the livelihoods and income sources of IDPs and returnees in 6 targeted districts and sub districts of the 2 selected provinces.

Over the course of 7 months, the project will target 1,050 unique beneficiaries in Al-Anbar and Salah Al-Din governorates, in a total of 6 districts (1 in Al-Anbar and 5 in Salah Al-Din). In the Al-Anbar governorate, the project will target 300 IDPs and returnees in  Jazeerat Al Khalidiya in Ramadi district. In Salah Al-Din Governorate, the project will target 750 IDPs and returnees in the districts of Al Shirqat, Beiji, Tikrit, Balat, and Samarra, including sub-districts with an increased presence of IDPs and returnees living in critical shelter conditions, such as Marqaz Tikrit or Al-Siniya.

The partners will work under the leadership of ZOA, who will cover Al Anbar Governorate, while the remaining partners divide areas in Salah Al-Din, with PIN implementing in Al Shirqat and Beiji, WEO in Balat, SSDF in Samarra and Tikrit district being covered by PIN and SSDF in tandem.

The project will support IDPs and returnees who are depending on agriculture production and subsequent income, negatively affected by conflict and/or displacement, via two main activities:

The first activity will be a CASH plus activity: the provision of a one-off unconditional cash grant of 340 USD to 525   vulnerable households along with kitchen gardening kits. In addition, the project will train targeted IDs/Returnees on Climate-smart agriculture methodologies especially Inter-cropping, soil management, composting and organic fertilization, small-scale water-efficient irrigation integrated pest management, soil water management, and efficient irrigation techniques. Beneficiaries will also receive training on nutrition and the relevance of varied food production for consumption and sale.  

The second activity will focus on assisting another 525 beneficiaries through rehabilitation of agriculture and irrigation infrastructures e.g. irrigation canals and channels in targeted areas through CfW activities. This activity will provide access to temporary income (400 USD ) to the IDPs and returnees to meet their basic needs whereas in long term, rehabilitated agricultural infrastructure will contribute to durable livelihoods. Workers and community representatives will also be trained on awareness of risks arising from possible explosive remnants of war during agricultural activities 
During project implementation, COVID-19 prevention and awareness sessions will be included in the training and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be followed.