Guidelines for Selective Feeding Programmes in Emergency Situations (UNHCR, 1999, 25 p.): VIII. Management Issues

Guidelines for Selective Feeding Programmes in Emergency Situations (UNHCR, 1999, 25 p.)

		(introduction...)
		I. Purpose
		II. Basic Principles
		III. Feeding Programme Strategy
		IV. Supplementary Feeding Programmes
		V. Therapeutic Feeding Programmes
		VI. Monitoring and Evaluation
		VII. Food Commodities for Feeding Programmes
		VIII. Management Issues
		Annexes

VIII. Management Issues

58. For planning purposes, the food needs and facilities for the feeding centers need to be estimated (see example). When recent nutrition survey data and demographic data are available, the maximum expected number of beneficiaries can be calculated. If demographic information is not available, table 6 below can be used as an approximation.

59. In the absence of data on the prevalence of malnutrition, it can be anticipated that in a nutritional emergency, 15-20% may suffer from moderate malnutrition and that about 2-3% might be severely malnourished. Using these estimates, requirements for the various food commodities can be calculated and planned for a period of time.

60. Feeding Center organization and staff requirements for a given population can be found in several guidelines (11, 12, 13, 14).

61. For further details and technical advice, Nutritionists in the technical units in WFP and UNHCR-Headquarters can be contacted.

Example

· Population of the camp = 30,000.

· Estimated number under five years = 4,500-6,000 (15-20%).

· Estimated prevalence of moderate malnutrition (15%); number of moderately malnourished children = 675-900.

· Estimated prevalence of severe malnutrition (2%); number of severely malnourished children 90-120.

Table 6: Projected Demographic Breakdown

Group	% of the total population	Comments
under five years	15-20%	0-59 months or < 110 cm
5-14 years	25-30%
Pregnant	1.5-3%
Nursing	3-5%

Addressing Food Pipeline failures

In case a serious food pipeline failure disrupts the availability of one or more important commodities, the following measures are recommended:

1. Exercise all efforts to restore the food pipeline at the earliest opportunity
2. Replace food commodities that are not available by other food items in order to maintain the adequate energy and protein level of the food basket as described in Joint WFP/UNHCR Guidelines for Estimating Food and Nutritional Needs in Emergencies (5)
3. Decrease the distribution of the missing commodit(y)(ies) in the General Ration
4. Safeguard the supplies to the Therapeutic Feeding Programme
5. Maintain the level of the commodit(y)(ies) concerned in the Supplementary Feeding
Rations with the following sequence of priority:

® children under 5 years of age
® pregnant women and nursing mothers
® older children
® other at-risk groups

6. In case of a prolonged food pipeline failure, the Supplementary Feeding Programme can be expanded to other at-risk groups depending on food availability