Emergency Food Security Project in La Gonâve Quarterly Performance Report FY21 Q1

The program aims to meet the immediate and basic food needs of 5,770 households in the two communes of the island, Anse-à-Galets and Pointe-à-Raquettes. The project targets households in Phase-3 and Phase-4 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which are considered to be marginally able to meet minimum food needs and face extreme food consumption gaps, respectively. The program provides eight months of distribution of unconditional food vouchers to households, each valued at US$50. Eligible households also receive conditional vouchers of the same amount after they carry out community work that includes the creation or rehabilitation of community assets. Additionally, the project provides entrepreneurship training sessions for 157 young people, who are then provided with grants/seed funds to initiate small businesses and encouraged to engage in savings using the Savings for Transformation (S4T) Model. During the reporting period, October to December 2020, the project staff utilized the support of local authorities to realize the project target of providing unconditional food vouchers to 17,310 beneficiaries. The project also trained 471 pregnant and lactating mothers on nutrition best practices, 31 mother leaders on good hygiene and sanitation best practices, and 75 community agents to manage S4Ts. Furthermore, 157 youth were trained in financial literacy, and 146 male and 308 female households and community agents were trained on financial literacy. The project has made significant progress in reaching its target beneficiaries, with a total of 34,428 actual beneficiaries served as of the end of the reporting period, representing 83% of the total planned beneficiaries. The variance in the number of beneficiaries served is attributed to the COVID-19 impacts and restrictions, which affected the registration process and distribution of food vouchers. The project has also undertaken nutritional and health activities, which have been well-received by the communities. Focus group sessions were held with pregnant and nursing mothers, who reported a positive perception of the nutritional and health activities and acknowledged the importance of vaccinating babies and children. The project has also led to changes in the behavior of pregnant and lactating women, who have reported improved hygiene and health practices, such as cooking balanced foods for their babies and keeping them clean. The project's impact has been significant, with a total of 288,500 food vouchers distributed during the reporting period. The project has also established 75 S4Ts, which have been managed by trained community agents. The project's next quarter will focus on providing grants to the trained youth to reinforce their small businesses and continuing the nutritional and health activities.