Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The project aims to improve food security, increase availability of food through diversifying the sources of food, increase access to lifesaving services for the treatment of preventable diseases and acute malnutrition and improve childhood nutrition and health care behaviors as well as psychosocial well-being for children. (This project contributes to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5 and to the EU GAP III Thematic Area of "Promoting economic and social rights and empowering girls and women".)

Expected results

1.1) 431 (215 women and 216 men) persons with food insecurity have access to immediate cash to meet their basic food needs;

2.1) 400 (280 women and 120 men) persons have increased their production of vegetables and fruits for home consumption;

2.2) 400 (280 women and 120 men) persons’ capacities are strengthened in vegetable and fruit gardening practices;

3.1) 18,244 persons (6,199 girls, 6,182 boys, 2,930 women and 2,933 men) have access to 3 functioning health and nutrition teams;

3.2) 4,517 children 6-59 months (2491 girls and 2026 boys) have access to integrated management of acute malnutrition Programme;

3.3) Strengthened capacities of 58 community health workers and project health staff;

4.1) 880 mothers are practicing age-appropriate Infant and young child feeding practices;

4.2) 500 caregivers (285 women and 215 men) have improved childcare skills and 500 children (250 boys and 250 girls) have improved their psychosocial well-being.

Target group / Beneficiaries

The proposed project will target a total of 25,530 individuals as direct beneficiaries in Afghanistan, North Region, Faryab Province, Qaisar District: 8,458 boys, 8,940 girls, 3,519 men, and 4,613 women, including most vulnerable female headed households, lactating women, under 5-year-old children, unemployed heads of households, child headed household, households who have malnourished children and mothers and households whose members include persons with disabilities. In addition to the 25,530 individuals who will directly benefit from this project, a total of 34,776 persons will benefit indirectly from the project.

Activities

Activities include: market assessment and financial service provider mapping, community & stakeholder mobilization, beneficiary selection, verification and registration, complaint response mechanism, cash transfer, onset and post distribution monitoring, community mobilization and sensitization, agricultural inputs (seed, fertilizer, fruit sapling) and trainings, technical guidance and follow up support to farmers, recruitment and trainings of the mobile health and nutrition team, procurement of medical supplies, referrals for complex cases that need hospitalization, integrated management of acute malnutrition, dignity kits for new mothers, nurturing care group activities, psychosocial support kits for families attending the nurturing care group sessions, etc.

Context

High acute food insecurity persists across Afghanistan, as a combination of collapsing economy and drought is depriving nearly 20 million Afghans of food, classified in Crises or Emergency (IPC 3-4) between March and May 2022, according to latest data of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Among these people are above 6.6 million people living in an Emergency situation (IPC Phase 4) and 13 million living in Crisis Situations (IPC Phase 3). The food security and nutrition situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate across most parts of the country, and in all operational areas that WVA works including Faryab. Markets are functioning and with access to cash households can purchase goods to cover most of their needs. A recent survey completed by the nutrition cluster gives preliminary malnutrition figures of wasting at 4% for the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) Rate and at 1.4% for the Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) Rate, and stunting rates of 36.9%. Faryab is currently classified under emergency conditions of food insecurity (IPC Phase 4 as per the Pre-lean Season Assessment (PLSA) of May 2022). Households have an extreme lack of food and/or other basic items even after full employment of coping strategies. Starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident.