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Chad + 3 more

Chad: Food Assistance Fact Sheet - April 18, 2018

SITUATION

  • Chad is a low-income, land-locked country that suffers from chronic food insecurity due to the effects of regional conflict, frequent drought, lack of income-generating opportunities and limited access to social services. An estimated 4.4 million people in Chad require humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

  • More than 510,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside in Chad as a result of ongoing conflict in the region, primarily in the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria and Sudan. The influx of Chadian returnees from conflict-affected countries also strains local resources and contributes to increased food insecurity among vulnerable communities.

  • According to a recent Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analysis—a tool used for the classification and quantification of food insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel—approximately 624,000 people across the country are currently facing Crisis (Phase 3)* or worse levels of acute food insecurity and require emergency food assistance. By June through August, a period of the year when food is most scarce, this number is expected to increase to more than 990,000, including approximately 34,000 people facing Emergency (Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity.

*The Cadre Harmonisé (CH) is a tool used for the classification and quantification of food insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel. The CH scale, which is comparable across countries, ranges from Minimal (Phase 1) to Famine (Phase 5).

RESPONSE

  • The USAID Office of Food for Peace (FFP) partners with the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to vulnerable, food-insecure Chadians and refugees from CAR, Nigeria and Sudan.

  • FFP provides in-kind food assistance through WFP to support general food distributions and prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition. FFP also supports the provision of in-kind food assistance using locally and regionally procured food, as well as cash transfers for food and food vouchers, supporting local and regional markets where possible.

  • With support from FFP, UNICEF provides ready-to-use therapeutic food to treat children with severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF also collaborates with regional health authorities to improve malnutrition treatment services in Chad.