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Iraq - Bulletin #16: Although PDS access has improved, IDPs are using more negative coping strategies, March 2016

Iraq - Bulletin #16: Although PDS access has improved, IDPs are using more negative coping strategies, March 2016
  • Household food consumption remained stable across January and February 2016. However, the food consumption of internally displaced people (IDPs) deteriorated: over a quarter of IDPs living in camps reported inadequate consumption.
  • A much higher proportion of IDP respondents living in camps reported resorting to negative coping in February (64%) compared with January (22.5%).
  • February mVAM market data indicates that the average cost of a standard food basket continues to fall in all monitored governorates, except in Anbar and Kirkuk. However, in the conflict-affected governorates of Anbar and Ninewa, food markets are highly volatile with soaring food prices. Food stocks are rapidly depleting in besieged locations such as Falluja and Al Sharqat.
  • For the second consecutive month, respondents from Hay Alwahda sub-district in Falluja reported that shops and markets had run out of all food supplies and that people were mainly depending on food such as potatoes, lettuce and eggplants that they collected from farms in rural areas close to the city.
  • Household access to Public Distribution System (PDS) deliveries showed signs of improvement as more respondents reported receiving a full or partial ration in February than in January. However, most people reported receiving poor quality food and partial rations only.