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Eswatini

WFP Swaziland Country Brief, August 2017

Attachments

Highlights

  • In August 2017, WFP assisted 8,088 people through the Food by Prescription programme.

  • Due to funding shortfalls, a pipeline break is expected in September 2017 for WFP’s Food by Prescription programme.

  • Assistance to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) resumed in August 2017, reaching 28,000 beneficiaries by the end of the month.

  • The 2017 Vulnerability Analysis Assessment has recently been completed, with results showing that many are still recovering from the 2016/2017 drought.

Operational Updates

Drought Recovery and Food Security:

  • The food security situation in Swaziland has not fully recovered following the 2016/2017 El Nino drought emergency.

  • The 2017 Annual Vulnerability Analysis Assessment showed that maize production was below in-country requirements and food prices remained significantly higher than before the drought. The most affected population groups are the poor who have lost their crops and have seen their income reduced due to chronic illness or death of bread winner and loss of employment. For the 2017/2018 lean season, pockets of food insecurity remain, particularly affecting most vulnerable groups, such as the poor and very poor, including households with orphans and vulnerable children.

  • About 159,000 people will be in need of food assistance during the lean season, due to a combination of reduced income opportunities and poor agricultural performance leading to high reliance on purchases and relatively high food prices.

  • The overall proportion of rural households that had poor and borderline food consumption levels as of mid-2017 was 15 percent.

HIV and Nutrition:

  • WFP is the implementing partner for a USAID’s PEPFAR project which focuses on nutrition intervention targeting people living with HIV/AIDS and orphans and vulnerable children. Project implementation started in March for selected health facilities in the most food insecure areas.

  • WFP’s Food by Prescription project has been extended to December 2017. However, it remains underfunded, with a pipeline break expected in September 2017.
    Social protection for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC):

  • Thanks to recent funding, assistance to OVC through DEV 200422 resumed in August 2017. The project had been halted since May 2016 due to lack of resources.

Challenges

  • Negative Economic Forecast: Swaziland faces fiscal and economic challenges, with poor predictions for Southern Africa Customs Union revenue, continued slow economic growth and the devaluation of the South Africa Rand, to which the local currency is pegged.

  • WFP Swaziland Country Strategy: Swaziland’s economic situation may also hamper advances in WFP’s country strategy approach, which aims towards full national ownership, financial and operational, of food and nutrition security initiatives. An interim Country Strategic Plan has been devised to align with Government priorities. The Government is in the planning stages for a Zero Hunger Strategic Review in Swaziland, to develop a roadmap to achieve SDG2: end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.