Emergency nutrition response SUMMARY 
A lack of rainfall in Ethiopia caused by El Niño has significantly increased food insecurity there. It has led to alarming rates of malnutrition, which has had devastating effects on incomes across many regions of the country. This project (16 June 2016 – 16 December 2016) will help save the lives of the most vulnerable people affected by the resulting drought and food-security crisis. It is a joint effort between Plan and other member organisations of the Dutch Relief Alliance, with Plan providing nutrition security support in Dara, Telemt and Bugna districts. Plan approaches its emergency response activities as an initial step towards sustainable development. The proposed interventions will be linked with the existing government programmes to provide long-term support services to communities in the targeted districts. Delayed and sporadic rainfall has resulted in very poor crop performance in several districts of Ethiopia this year, with yields between 47.2 and 95 per cent lower. This has worsened chronic food insecurity and malnutrition in large parts of the country. It’s estimated that over 315,000 people will need emergency food assistance in the Wag-himra region until the next production season. 
The districts targeted by the project have the highest populations in acute need of emergency interventions. The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is a government-led programme that addresses persistent chronic food insecurity but the food aid it provides can only partially support and meet the needs of households there.
The targeted districts have the highest priority, which is why the government of Ethiopia has recommended that emergency food and nutrition support be provided in these districts. This will save the lives of children most affected by severe malnutrition and address the needs of the most vulnerable households. Households headed by women are particularly badly affected by food insecurity, because women often have to care of children but have limited control or access to assets, resources and income. The remote geographic location of the targeted districts means the communities are difficult to reach. What’s more, Plan is the only NGO operating there. Additionally, poverty, ignorance, and poor child-feeding practices are worsening the situation in the project areas. Providing life-saving support (food and medication) to children younger than five and to pregnant and lactating women (PLW) suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) will increase their chances of surviving. Additionally, by training healthcare workers in the management of malnutrition they will be able to provide the necessary support to the beneficiaries of the project. Due to the remoteness of the targeted districts, Plan is the only NGO working in this part of Ethiopia. With its PSNP, the government of Ethiopia is providing food and nutrition security support to vulnerable households in these areas. However, because of the prolonged period of hunger caused by lower yields during recent crop seasons, the shortfall in food cannot be fully compensated for by this government-led programme. It is therefore crucial that Plan provides the necessary support. The emergency nutrition intervention of this project will benefit over 8,000 children aged 6-59 months with SAM and MAM, and over 7,000 PLW with MAM. The activities in this project will tackle this problem in two main ways that are described below.
Firstly, it will provide much-needed nutrition and life-saving support for children and PLW by:
•	transporting supplementary food to distribution sites and distributing the food to the beneficiaries every month;
•	helping to transport the associated ready-to-use supplies to district health offices, stabilisation centres and health posts; and
•	buying routine medication for children admitted to outpatient therapeutic programmes and/or stabilisation centres. 
Secondly, it will improve the knowledge and skills of health professionals and community workers in the management of SAM by:
•	providing basic and refresher trainings on managing SAM for Ministry of Health staff, health extension workers and health workers; and
•	providing infant and young-child feeding training to health extension and health workers. The project is being implemented in collaboration with communities and the local and national governments. Its sustainability will be underscored by on-the-job training for health professionals that focus on the proper management of SAM and MAM cases, data management and reporting, community outreach activities, and strengthening referral systems and linkages. Plan will provide a training of trainers on nutrition and livelihoods to relevant government officials and Plan field staff. Additionally, officials in local government sectors and community representatives will be involved in monitoring, joint supervision and end-line review meetings. The community is directly supporting the intervention by providing pack animals for transport of supplies, and therefore creating ownership and ensuring sustainability.