The first-ever Food Security Cluster Coordinators' Retreat was organised in Rome on 28-30 July 2015.

The event brought together 28 Coordinators, NGO Co-Facilitators and regional office focal points as well as three global Food Security Cluster partners, representing the gFSC Working Groups. During these two and half days, participants shared experiences on challenges and good practices, which were documented and will form the base of recommendations for future action of the Food Security Cluster at global and country levels.

Funding permitting, the gFSC hopes to continue to hold a similar event every year to ensure that the work of the Cluster continually improves to achieve the most appropriate, effective and efficient food security response to meet the needs of the affected population.

The report of the retreat will be shared in the near future. The recommendations will be followed up and included into the strategic direction and priorities of the gFSC work plan 2015-2016.

Many thanks to all participants for the successful event!

The latest Food Security Cluster Coordinator Training, organized by the global Food Security Cluster, was hosted in Rome, Italy on 6-10 July.

This was the fifth Cluster Coordinator Training organized by the gFSC and it has continued to progressively build on the recommendations which stem from previous trainings. A total of 24 participants attended the training, including four current Food Security Cluster Coordinators and Co-Facilitators. Overall the participants represented NGO partners, Norwegian Refugee Council Roster members, staff from FAO, WFP and UNHCR, as well as government representatives and consultants. 

The next training is scheduled to be hosted in Neuhausen, Germany on 16-20 November and is mainly targeted for stand-by partners.

The biannual Meeting of global Food Security Cluster Partners was held on 13-14 May 2015 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy. The purpose of the meeting was to:

• review the work of the gFSC since the last meeting in November 2014;
• inform and explore the strategic direction and priority areas of the global Food Security Cluster for the remaining of 2015-16; and
• continue discussion on governance, which had been partially addressed in previous meetings.

The meeting brought together around fifty representatives from global partner organisations and country clusters. During the rich and informative sessions, it was decided that a number of concrete action points will be taken. These action points, together with a brief summary of the sessions is included in the meeting report.

Next Meeting: 26-26 November 2015

Tentative  dates  for  the  next  Global  Partners' Meeting  are
Wednesday  and  Thursday  25-26 November  2015 at  the  World  Food  Programme  Headquarters  in  Rome,  with  Tuesday  24
November re served for the Working Group face-to-face meetings.

Technology & Innovation Working Group of the global Food Security Cluster is mapping technologies and innovations potentially of interest for actors dealing with food security in different contexts.

This task aims to capture knowledge and experience from different sources to provide an overview of the technologies and innovations used for humanitarian aid and development in the food security sector.

We are now kindly asking all stakeholders with information on the topic to please fill in the survey by 15 September 2015.

All records entered are immediately visible in the web database. Before entering new records, you can check the previously submitted technologies and innovations, in order to avoid duplications.

• WEBFORM: https://goo.gl/dCz1qs
• DATABASE: https://goo.gl/RhKG8f

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Marco Caniato, COOPI, caniato@coopi.org and Marisa Muraskiewicz, marisa.muraskiewicz@wfp.org. Thanks in advance for your contribution!

• Internally displaced persons are most affected by food insecurity. According to a recent vulnerability analysis, more than one in five  reported “poor” or “borderline” consumption in June. Two in five said they did not have enough food or money to buy food.
• Food prices increased in June and wage-to-food terms of trade declined in Diyala and Ninewa governorates. In Anbar governorate, food prices are high and food supply is limited in the conflict-affected district of Haditha.
• The Government’s Public Distribution System access remains low, with fewer households reporting having received a full ration in June than in the previous month.
• On 25 and 26 July, family food parcels were distributed to about 1,000 people returning to their homes in the hard-to-reach town of Garma in Anbar governorate, which has been inaccessible due to insecurity over the past year.
• Through the rapid response mechanism, about 50,000 people have been reached in July with ready-to-eat food for three days in Salah al-Din, Babil, Qadiyssia, Anbar and Basrah governorates.
• From 1 to 26 July, 317,000 people were assisted with vouchers, and 1.2 million displaced people living in and outside camps with family food parcels.
• Without additional funds, food security partners will be forced to make further cuts to the current food assistance. This may include a complete cut in food assistance to some groups of affected people and/or scaling back of geographical coverage.

• A total of 12.9 million Yemenis are food insecure, with 6.1 million people considered severely food insecure.
• In 2015, the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster Partners have prioritized the most urgent needs of 7.6 million people with emergency food and livelihoods assistance, in the priority governorates currently in emergency phase 4. More emergency food assistance is desperately needed as increasing demands on available food have contributed to soaring food prices.
• Wheat flour prices continue to rise: the price has doubled since the conflict escalated. It is most expensive in Aden, Al Dhale’e and Lahj. There are shortages of red beans (a common protein and market-price indicator), wheat flour and vegetable oil in roughly half of the governorates. Cooking gas is either totally unavailable or sporadically available in 20 out of 22 governorates (the two where it is generally available are Al Hudaydah and Sana’a), and it has risen by up to 264 percent, where available.
• Since March 2015, the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster has assisted 2,692,866 people with life-saving food and livelihood support in 17 governorates. Emergency food assistance through distributions of food rations for one month have been distributed to 2,579,311 people in urgent need. A further 55,118 people were supported with unconditional cash transfers or vouchers, and some 37,065 people received conditional cash or vouchers to enable them have access to food through purchases in local markets.
• Emergency livelihoods assistance comprising of distribution of agricultural inputs and assets (seeds, fertilizer, and farm tools) were provided to 21,372 vulnerable households (farmers and IDPs residing in host communities) whose livelihoods had been severely compromised by the crisis 
• The main constraints that have hampered or slowed down the cluster response so far are: lack of sufficient funding, impeded access to  certain governorates (especially in the South), clearance procedures causing delays in food deliveries, high transportation costs due to high fuel prices and/or shortages, and  interference by parties to the conflict in the cluster humanitarian operations.

• From January to June 2015, on average, more than 5,930,775 million people were reached by the Food Security Sector with food baskets against a target of 6,174,000 people. This represented a 96 percent of the target each month. In June, monthly food baskets reached 6,427,488 people marking a peak.
• The Food Security Sector response for livelihoods and agriculture is mostly on track and is aligned with the seasonal calendar. Overall, the sector has assisted 614,611 people under its Strategic Objective 2 of "protecting and strengthening the assets base, supporting income generating activities and increasing agriculture production" as of June 30, against a target of 2.5 million people. This represents 24.6%, which is on track.
• The Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report for Syria 2015 is now available.
• Through protection mainstreaming sessions, the Sector has advocated with its partners to mainstream protection and accountability to affected population and supported in developing a contextualized checklist.

Food security assistance update

• As the security situation gradually stabilizes, agriculture offers most opportunities for economic growth, particularly among the youth and returnees who are seeking work and can engage in agricultural activities to rapidly generate income, while contributing to rebuilding the country’s economy and stabilization. During the first cycle of the 2015 agricultural campaign, FAO with NGO partners distributed crop seeds to 96,200 crisis-affected households to cultivate 0.5 ha of land. An additional 33,700 households will be assisted for the second cycle (July-August). In total, 129,200 households out of 150,000 targeted by FAO will have received agricultural assistance. This will contribute to meet their food needs for up to nine months, reduce dependence on humanitarian assistance and stabilize their incomes.
• The Food Security Cluster was instrumental during the planting season by promoting joint  interventions. While FAO provided agricultural inputs, WFP provided food protection rations and partner NGOs were in charge of distributing both food and seed commodities to the same households to limit the risk of planting material consumption.
• In order to strengthen household resilience, a comprehensive approach called “caisses de resilience” has been developed, enabling families to improve their agricultural techniques, rebuild credit access and improve governance structures at community level. Participating families are contracted to produce quality seeds, vegetable, small livestock and crops to boost their communities’ capacities. These activities are coupled with the distribution of small processing machines, enabling the establishment of food and seed reserves. As households are not dependent on the rainy season, resilience measures provide opportunities them  to accumulate, diversify and protect assets and  increase knowledge.

Food Security Cluster update

• The 2016 Humanitarian Programme Cycle process has been launched on July 30, starting with the Humanitarian Needs Overview which will be ongoing during August and September. This first stage will inform Humanitarian Response Planning  which will start in October. While information gaps remain important in CAR, the food security needs analysis will mainly rely upon the last IPC analysis (April 2015) as well as data on markets and meteorology, to provide an overview of the different sources of vulnerability and trends for the coming months. Information on the various components of transhumance (areas of livestock concentration, monitoring of tensions and conflicts, etc.) will also be critical to give an overview of pastoral vulnerabilities.

The Global Food Security Cluster IM Tool was formally launched in Niger in June. 17 organizations participated in trainings and the tool was adapted in the context of Niger including  the needs of other coordination structures and the government.

Currently Niger has entered into the lean season or pre-harvest period typically running from June to September each year. Food security actors are working to increase access to food through general food distributions and cash based interventions. 

Highlights include:

• 2.7 million people are currently food insecure during the lean season period.  In 2015, food security partners, including the government, have  planned to assist 1.4 million individuals covering 52 percent of the lean season target.
• During the month of June partners delivered assistance to 800,000 individuals with 51 percent of assistance in cash based intervention and 49 percent in food distributions.
• Actual assistance delivered covered 29 percent of needs throughout the country.
• The region of Diffa affected by both the lean season as well as insecurity generated by the Boko Haram conflict, remains a priority for assistance. The conflict has negatively impacted income generation as commercial activities and trading routes have been severely limited, further stretching the resources of vulnerable families hosting those displaced by the violence. Find the full report through this link.

Service delivery is expected to increase sharply later in the lean season period as other actors begin distribution operations. The July report will include information regarding agricultural activities.

• The Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) is redoubling its efforts to support Early Stage Innovation. This is a vital part of the humanitarian innovation process when problems are being explored (recognition) and new ideas are generated (invention). Humanitarian organisations are often unable to take risk or lack the resources to support innovation projects. With grants of up to £20,000 available, the HIF plays an essential role in challenging the status quo to bring about change. Join the HIF webinar on the 19th of August at 13:00 BST when the HIF team will explain their approach to innovation, how to apply, and hear from current and past HIF grantees on their experiences of innovating early on.
• Ageing & Disability Taskforce (ADTF): quarterly newsletter "Inclusion Watch - Seventh Edition" is now available.
• Training opportunities by COOPI: the following training opportunities are organized in the framework of the "Sustainable Energy Technologies for Food Utilization (SET4food)" project, developed by COOPI - COOPERAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE, Politecnico di Milano and Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, and co-funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO): 1) October 9-10, 2015 in Bethlehem, Palestine, in English, in partnership with the "Master in International Cooperation and Development (MICAD)" of the Bethlehem University. For further information, please write to Mr. Luigi Bisceglia - luigib@bethlehem.edu; 2) October 22-23, 2015 in Cartagena, Colombia, in Spanish, in partnership with the "Escuela Latinoamericana de Cooperación y Desarrollo (ELACID)" of the Universidad de San Buenaventura. 3) E-learning course about "Appropriate energy technologies for food utilisation in refugee camps and informal settlements: overview, selection criteria and pilot case studies" (www.set4food.org/elearning) with videos, slides, and additional resources. The course will have a tutorship period starting from September 29. To enrol and for further information, please visit www.set4food.org.

NORCAP seeks experts within Gender Mainstreaming, Shelter-Site planning, Cash based programming and Information management

NORCAP is a standby roster which consists of 700 highly qualified women and men ready to deploy to international operations at short notice. Through the NORCAP mechanism, the aim is to provide those at risk with access to protection and to ensure that their rights are respected throughout all stages of a crisis or disaster. In order to rapidly respond to our partners’ needs NORCAP is currently growing its expert capacity within the areas of Protection, Child Protection and Gender Based Violence.

Deadline for applications: 30/08/2015

For more information, please visit NORCAP website.

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