Food Security Response for Drought Affected Communities in Galkayo The proposed project will contribute to Save the Children (SC)'s humanitarian plan objective one - “To improve the humanitarian situation for the affected population, restoring privacy and dignity and reducing health and protection vulnerabilities through the provision of emergency humanitarian assistance.” The project will also contribute to the Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan’s strategic objective 1.4 – Improve access to food for 3.1 million people facing severe acute food insecurity, including 1.1 million IDPs, in 64 districts by the end of 2022. The project will achieve this by increasing the household purchasing power through provision of unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) worth USD 70 for three months to each of the 875 households (5250 individuals comprising 892 men, 893 women, 1732 boys and 1733 girls) facing survival deficits in five IDP camps namely Kulmiye garsoor, Mudug sare, SYL, Buulo-bacleey and Samawade. In addition, SC will provide cash worth USD 70 plus fodder worth $32 (32kgs) to 375 vulnerable rural households (2,250 individuals comprising 382 men, 383 women, 742 boys and 743 girls) who face severe gaps in feeding their remaining livestock for a period of three months. The cash transfers will be done through mobile cash transfer while the fodder will be provided in-kind. The value of the cash transfer per household (USD 70) per month, represents 80% of the cost of the minimum expenditure basket (MEB) for the Mudug region. 

To ensure smooth distribution of the UCTs and cash plus fodder, SC field staff and the village relief committees (VRCs), comprising an equal number of men and women, will first conduct community sensitization sessions in partnership with local authorities in the IDP camps and in the target villages to ensure understanding of the project’s aims and develop and agree on the selection and targeting criteria. All the beneficiaries will also be notified of the available accountability systems and the telephone numbers they can use to present their complaints or concerns regarding the project activities. Improving households’ abilities to purchase food from local markets is expected to improve food consumption and reduce the use of negative coping mechanisms that expose children and other vulnerable groups to the risk of starvation and malnutrition and protection concerns. 

The project will target vulnerable severely food insecure newly displaced and rural IDPs, vulnerable farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. SC will work with the community, community leaders, and the government to ensure a sound selection of targets is demonstrated. The action will encourage the participation of the affected community as much as possible with an emphasis on women’s engagement to ensure that the real needs of the people are targeted, avoid exclusion and minimize unintended effects on the target community. The sites selected for activities including meeting shall be carefully considered to ensure that it provides good security for women, safeguard children and ensure access to the persons with disability.

Each transfer will be accompanied by post-distribution monitoring alongside the implementation of beneficiary accountability initiatives to establish the satisfaction of men, women, boys and girls with the process, utilization of the cash, and any unintended outcomes on the beneficiaries such as food consumption, expenditures, savings, investments, protection issues. The existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the Somali Country Office will be used to ensure smooth operations of cash transfers, distribution process, and accountability. Risk mitigation measures will also be employed throughout the project cycle to minimize harm to the target beneficiaries while accessing services.