Annual Country Report 2021: Afghanistan. Country Strategic Plan 2018-2022

Annual Country Report 2021: Afghanistan. Country Strategic Plan 2018-2022

Rome (Italy): World Food Programme, 2021.

English

72 p.

ELR1578

The year 2021 was a year of momentous turmoil and change for the Afghan people defined by raging conflict, the withdrawal of foreign forces, the disintegration of the government and the ultimate takeover by the Taliban. After August Afghanistan became the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with 24.4 million people 58 percent of the population in need of humanitarian assistance by the end of the year. In response to the sharp deterioration in food security, WFP significantly scaled-up operations, providing life-saving food and nutrition assistance to 15 million people (51 percent female and 49 percent male). . Overall, this represents a 67 percent increase on beneficiaries reached in 2020 and 14 percent more than planned. Included in the total are 2.1 million children 6-59 months and pregnant and lactating women (PLW) who received malnutrition prevention and treatment services. To facilitate the scale-up, deliveries increased dramatically with 197,000 mt of food received between September and December30 percent more than the 146,000 mt received in the first eight months of the year. To deliver and receive these quantities, WFP increased its fleet from 133 to 171 trucks, increased warehousing capacity by 40 percent and initiated the opening of new corridors delivering food from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. WFP and partners ensured the availability of food in areas that became inaccessible by road during the winter by strategically prepositioning over 23,000 mt of food and specialized nutrition products across the country. Along with the scale-up in emergency response, WFP continued to leverage opportunities to protect livelihoods and build households’ and communities' own productive capacities, with 250,000 people (49 percent female) benefitting from asset creation and skills training activities. WFP continued to support the local economy, injecting USD 44 million into local markets through cash-based transfers and purchasing 192,000 mt of food locally at a value of USD 90 million. While school feeding activities, particularly for girls, were impacted by school closures, WFP reached more than 145,000 boys and 200,000 girls with school-based meals and take-home rations. WFP continued to incentivize girls’ education through the provision of take-home rations for primary school girls and cash transfers for secondary school girls.

ELR 1578

eng

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