Supporting vulnerable households through in-kind food support in Ghormach district of Badghis province High acute food insecurity persists across Afghanistan, as a combination of a collapsing economy and drought is depriving nearly 20 million Afghans of food, classified in Crisis or Emergency (IPC Phases 3 or 4), between March and May 2022 (the lean season), latest data shows. Among these are about 6.6 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 13 million in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). A significant amount of Humanitarian Food Assistance (HFA) was provided, easing the food crisis for the most affected households. However, Afghanistan’s food security situation remains highly concerning, exacerbated by economic decline and high food prices. With 38% of the population targeted for HFA, nearly 20 million people, representing half the country's population, are still experiencing high and critical levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phases 3 and above) between March and May 2022. Among these, about 6.6 million people are classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), characterized by large food gaps and/ or employing emergency coping strategies to access food. For the first time since the introduction of IPC in Afghanistan, Catastrophe conditions (IPC Phase 5) were detected for 20,000 people in the province of Ghor, one of the most remote, vulnerable provinces of Afghanistan and immediate action is needed to prevent further deterioration. Compared to the previous period, November 2021 to March 2022, which classified 22.8 M people in IPC Phase 3 and above, the reduction of the population facing high and critical level of acute food insecurity has been minimal and mainly driven by partners’ efforts in scaling up HFA. The increased capacity of humanitarian actors to reach beneficiaries in vulnerable rural areas compared to the peak of the winter season is playing a big role in this respect. The persistence of this high magnitude and severity of food insecurity is due to a combination of a successive series of droughts, rising food prices, lingering impact of decades of conflict and the economic collapse resulting from the political transition. In the projected period, between June and November 2022, harvest will allow a minimal improvement in food availability and access, from 19.7 million people facing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and above) to 18.9 million. Overall, 13 million will likely be in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and 6 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). With below average prospects for the harvest in most of the country, several factors are further expected to hamper the foreseeable seasonal improvement. Among these, many are fundamental socio-economic changes, such as the expected contraction of the GDP from 20 to 16 billion USD in 2022.

30 percent of the population in Badghis province is identified under phase 3 and 20 percent under phase 4 in the IPC analysis 2022 for Afghanistan. The province is identified under IPC phase 4 in the same analysis. Movement for Protection Organization (MPO), through this project, will provide food assistance as in-kind packages to 1010 households covering 7070 individuals in Ghormach district of Badghis province to cover food 75% of food monthly food basket for six months. This will make sure that the target households have enough food for their family members for six months that will significantly improve their food consumption. Each package per month will contain the items as follow. Each household will receive the above-mentioned package for six months that will be distributed in three rounds to ease both distribution and receiving by the target households. Each round of distribution will provide two month’s 75% food basket (150 KG of Wheat Flour, 12 Liters of Vegetable Oil, 12 KG of Pulses, and 2 KG of Salt). MPO will select the target number of households for this project in strict consideration of the selection criteria defined by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster of the UN. The eligible households will be selected through a transparent house-to-house survey.