According to a recent emergency assessment carried out two months after the passage of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, the number of people in food insecurity in Grande-Anse and the South, two departments most affected, decreased by half, from about one million people to 400,000.

However, in the North-West, Artibonite, Nippes and La Gonâve (West), although the impact of the hurricane was lower, its effects, associated with three years of severe drought have led to an increase in the level of food insecurity where 1 million people have been affected. In total, more than 1.5 million people are still food insecure in these 6 departments.

After the passage of Matthew, thanks to ood assistance provided from October, food insecurity levels declined in the South from 79% to 41% two months later and in Grande-Anse from 78% to 54% over the same period. Since the beginning of the emergency response, under the leadership of the government, the World Food Program (WFP) has distributed food aid in these two departments to more than 900,000 people and has distributed fortified complementary foods to more than 20,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five years of age. At the same time, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the Ministry of Agriculture, has provided seeds, tools and financial resources to more than 21,000 vulnerable agricultural households in 5 departments (Grand'Anse, South, South East, West, Northwest). The highest levels of food insecurity are in the North West (65%), Haut Artibonite (54%) and La Gonâve (54%); These areas were not identified as priorities for emergency response after the first mid-October assessment.

"The results of the evaluation reveal the very positive impact of our collective efforts in the aftermath of the hurricane, but also confirms the need to continue and reorient assistance to new areas where food insecurity is higher," declared Ronald Tran Ba Huy, WFP's representative in Haiti.

"The government will continue to guide these efforts [...] and the results of the evaluation will ensure that the response gives priority to the most vulnerable people in the new areas highlighted by the evaluation," said Chrisner Roche, coordinator of the National Coordination of Food Security (CNSA).

HL/ HaitiLibre