The World Food Programme (WFP) recently released its mid-year 2022 highlights on Lebanon. In details, the WFP report revealed the deepening economic crisis in Lebanon has heavily affected the lives of 54% of Lebanese and 88% of Syrian refugees especially with regards to food security. More specifically, the report mentioned that food prices have increased by 30% between January and July 2022 and by more than 2000% since the onset of the October 2019 uprising. In addition, the report stated that so far in 2022, the program has reached more than 1.8 million individuals (some 1.1 million refugees and around 0.72 million Lebanese), noting that the WFP response has been tailored to ensure more individuals gain access to assistance through several modalities. Some of these modalities include adjusting transfer values of cash assistance for inflation, optimizing in-kind food basket for the nutrition needs and preferences of beneficiaries, and adding more cash redemption points to reduce crowding and travel time & cost. In figures, the report revealed that between January and June 2022 some $140 million in cash was transferred to 1,451,600 cash-based transfer (CBT) beneficiaries, while some 21,600 metric tons of food products were transferred to 380,900 food beneficiaries. Furthermore, the report mentioned that the WFP reached 1,726,227 beneficiaries in unconditional resources transfer (compared to a target of 2,179,073 beneficiaries). The report noted that for the remainder of 2022, the WFP will continue its expansion to service a larger number of vulnerable families in Lebanon with lifesaving food and basic assistance, while simultaneously increasing its support to national institutions & partners to strengthen their capacities to provide safety nets and services.

From another perspective, the report provided strategic outcomes for 5 different areas:

-       Crisis Response for Refugees and Lebanese: Some 1,065,381 refugees received CBT to meet their food and other basic needs. The program has also reached 380,872 vulnerable Lebanese with in-kind food assistance. According to the report, the WFP has reached 400,000 Lebanese beneficiaries with lifesaving food assistance between 2021 and June 2022. Furthermore, 71,742 students benefited from the school feeding programme (vs a target of 73,500 students)

-       Livelihoods & Resilience: 42,060 Syrian refugees and Lebanese received cash transfers through food assistance for training (vs a target of 69,000 beneficiaries) through living labs by adopting new technologies and barley sprouting unit to decrease costs for farmers while adopting renewable energy technology

-       Supporting the National Poverty Targeting Programme: The WFP has delivered cash assistance to 279,974 vulnerable Lebanese through the national poverty targeting programme (NPTP), reaching 65% of its target to assist 430,000 individuals by September 2022. The WFP increased the transfer value of cash assistance through the NPTP in order to ensure that beneficiaries can better meet their food & basic needs amid inflation

-       Institutional Capacity Strengthening: The WFP supported the creation of new governance structures for the NPTP. In addition, the WFP has supported the repair and enhancement of the damaged animal & plant quarantine lab and the office of the Ministry of Agriculture at the Beirut port

-       Enabling Humanitarian Response: The WFP distributed some 10.4 million liters of fuel to 622 wash and health facilities to guarantee the continuity of their services. The WFP also provided assistance through the ESSN to 63,000 vulnerable Lebanese families (circa 295,000 individuals) between March and June 2022