No longer relying on food assistance

World Vision Mauritania wishes to acknowledge the financial support of the American people provided for the implementation of the Kankossa Emergency Assistance Program (KEAP) through the United States Agency for International Development Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP).

This generous assistance brought smiles to the faces of many children and their families affected by the food and nutrition crisis in Mauritania. The program lasted for 20 months, starting from March 1, 2012 to November 30, 2013. The program came in response to the food crisis declared by the Mauritanian Government in November 2011, appealing for urgent assistance for 700,000 individuals who were at risk of being food insecure. 

Click here to read the families' testimonies. 

The goal of the Kankossa Emergency Assistance Program (KEAP) was to address the food needs of 4,070 vulnerable households (approximately 24,420 individuals) in the five communes of Kankossa District in Assaba Region of Mauritania, in response to food crisis caused by drought and compounded by other economic factors.

In the second phase, the programme sought to reduce chronic vulnerability of 4,323 targeted households (HHs) (approximately 25,938 individuals) and their communities through livelihood recovery interventions.

The programme goal was catered for through different activities that were implemented in line with the following strategic objectives proposed in the first phase of the program (KEAP I):

• To provide emergency food assistance to vulnerable households through Cash Based Food Vouchers (CBFVs)
• To create and rehabilitate community assets to enhance resilience through Voucher for Work (VFW) interventions.

In the second phase (KEAP II), the focus of the programme was on the following objectives:

• To reduce chronic vulnerability of affected populations
• To improve livelihoods recovery for affected populations.

In order to save the lives of some of the HHs worst affected by the drought, KEAP provided emergency food assistance to 4,070 vulnerable HHs by implementing six rounds of CBFV distributions in its first phase. Three of these distributions were unconditional while the other three were conditional distributions.

The second phase involved the transfer of food through Cash Based Food Vouchers in seven conditional distributions to 4,323 HHs. Conditional distributions in both phases required beneficiary HHs to participate in Voucher for Work projects aimed at creating or restoring community assets as a means to enhancing household and community resilience.