Southeast border pastoralists and urban households still in Crisis
KEY MESSAGES
• Around 70,000 vulnerable populations in rural areas are currently at Stressed (IPC Phase 2) and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity, and household food deficits in many areas of the northwest and southeast are met by WFP’s food assistance programs.
• During the October 2012 to March 2013 scenario period, households in the Northwest pastoral zone will maintain Stressed (IPC Phase 2) levels of acute food insecurity, supported by continuous food assistance and improved livestock productivities. Although the Karan/Karma rains were generally favorable, dependence on food assistance remains high and more than 60 percent of household food supply is still provided by food assistance.
• In the Southeast pastoral border livelihood zone, households are marginally able to meet minimum food needs only through accelerated depletion of livelihood assets and adoption of unsustainable coping strategies such as charcoal sales. Households in this zone are expected to remain at Crisis levels (IPC Phase 3) throughout the Outlook period. Households in the Central pastoral livelihood zone and the Southeast roadside sub-zone are expected to remain at Stressed levels through the scenario period.
• In urban areas of Djibouti City, food insecurity is driven by high prices of basic commodities during a time of year when expenses are high. Poor urban households are expected to remain at Crisis levels of acute food insecurity until the end of the year and to return to Stressed levels from January to March, as household expenditures on non-food items seasonably decline.