Eritrea is facing its sixth consecutive year of severe drought.Recurrent droughts and the deepening economic crisis have impoverished the agriculturalists and pastoralists who comprise the large majority of Eritrea’s population, of whom 37 percent are extremely poor – 1.3 million people cannot meet minimum food needs; households headed by women are among the poorest.
WFP assistance will be provided to 1.3 million Eritreans under this operation, which has the following immediate objectives:
This operation is an expansion of the ongoing phase (10192.0); it will contribute to meeting the relief and recovery needs of hungry and food-insecure populations. The shift from relief to recovery will remain constrained by extreme poverty, lack of resources and national implementers’ limited capacity. However, the operation includes small-scale targeted interventions aiming at medium-term and longer-term development. WFP will promote women’s participation in managing food resources and recovery activities.
The relief component will focus on the Anseba, Debub, Gash Barka and Maekel regions with general feeding. WFP will support the Government’s priority for education by providing primary schoolchildren with school feeding, take-home rations for girls, rations for adult literacy programmes and food for training; it will use supplementary food as an incentive for mothers to seek ante-natal and post-natal care.
Targeted supplementary and therapeutic feeding programmes will address the special nutritional needs of the most vulnerable populations. Rations for people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis will help to save or prolong lives.
