Recovery & Resilience

Currently implementing Round III of the Emergency Food Distribution Programme, SEED is looking to build on this emergency response to support the recovery and longer-term resilience of these food insecure communities by improving their health, nutrition, and livelihoods, enabling them to cope with additional shocks and stresses in the future.

SEED has responded to the ongoing food crisis by training two community health workers per village to identify, treat, and monitor the recovery of children with acute malnutrition. Those diagnosed are promptly given ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), and their families are supported with unprepared food rations. So far, two rounds of food distribution have been completed supporting 921 children and resulted in a 100% recovery rate for those previously malnourished in Round II. A further 769 malnourished children have been enrolled in Round III.

To contribute to the longer-term recovery, SEED provides education sessions around nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Using community health centres to distribute information and the rations increases the public trust in their local health centres, promoting long-termer behaviour change of communities. Empowering communities withknowledge on nutrition and WASH practices contributes to sustainably improving the health and livelihoods forbeneficiaries even after the programme has finished.

For example, at seven months old, Fitahia was diagnosed as malnourished by SEED’s community health workers, so Fitahia was enrolled in Round III of SEED’s Emergency Food Distribution Programme. Every 15 days, her grandmother took Fitahia to the health centre for RUTF rations to help treat her malnutrition. Thankfully, after 60 days, Fitahia made a full recovery. During these visits, her grandmother also received nutrition education lessons, which she applies to everyday cooking and eating to ensure Fitahia doesn’t become malnourished again.