Haiti emergency | World Food Programme

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in Port-au-Prince since August alone, as Haiti’s humanitarian crisis escalates at a worrying pace. More than 200,000 people are displaced across the country and in need of urgent support, lacking food and other essential supplies.

More than one in three Haitians face acute food insecurity, driven by violence caused by armed groups, a significant economic slowdown, the late arrival of the rainy season and low rainfall. Of these, a worrying 1.4 million face ‘Emergency’ hunger and require urgent, life-saving assistance.

In response to unprecedented humanitarian needs, WFP has ramped up operations and already assisted nearly 1.7 million people so far this year.

However, funding cuts are forcing WFP to slash the number of people who receive emergency food assistance in – with 100,000 people left with no support, and 100,000 schoolchildren at risk of being cut too.

WFP urgently needs US$136 million to avoid further cuts to vital humanitarian assistance.

What the World Food Programme is doing to respond to the Haiti emergency

Emergency assistance: Through its emergency programmes, WFP provides unconditional food and cash assistance to vulnerable households. WFP has provided over US$47 million in cash-based transfers, 7,500 metric tons of food and almost 1 million hot meals in 2023.
Emergency preparedness: WFP supports the Government with emergency food assistance as well as logistics and emergency telecommunications. Pre-positioning commodities in-country allows WFP to respond to sudden-onset disasters and crises to meet the needs of affected populations quickly, while additional assistance is planned and prepared for in later weeks, if needed. Fully stocked, the contingency stock allows WFP to feed up to 300,000 people with unconditional food assistance, including rice, beans and oil for one month.
Logistics: In Haiti, WFP has 25 trucks, 2 helicopters and 1 fixed-wing aircraft, and has access to maritime transport to support its operations, as well as other UN agencies, NGOs and governments entities. This has proved critical in accessing hard-to-reach locations as travel over land to certain parts of the country is unsafe. The provision of fuel was the most demanded service in 2022, due to recurring shortages in the country. In 2022, over 122,000 gallons were provided to 34 partners. WFP is also setting up a humanitarian corridor with the Dominican Republic, as well as providing part of its contingency stock, to be able to quickly dispatch humanitarian aid by land and sea and support its emergency response.
Resilience building: In parallel to the emergency response, WFP works on reinforcing the resilience of vulnerable people through asset creation and livelihood programmes. In 2022, 97 km of rural roads and 53 km of irrigation canals were rehabilitated, 28 metric tons of seeds were distributed and 4 mills for were established. In addition, 75,000 tree cuttings were planted, and 25,000 smallholder farmers supported through microinsurance coverage. WFP directly supported around 113,00 people through its resilience activities in 2022 and aims to increase its assistance to 250,000 in 2023.