Ethiopia, Dabat 31 March 2022 Relief food distributions and distributions of specialized nutritious foods in the Dabat and Debark districts of the Amhara Region. In the North Gondar zone, where the Dabat & Debark districts are located, 46 percent of households are food insecure, and 4 percent are severely food insecure. 22 percent of children under the age of five in the zone are malnourished, and 3 percent are severely malnourished. WFP is supporting more than 650,000 displaced people and host community members in seven districts of North Gondar alone with over 11,000 mt of food through relief distributions each month. As of 4 April, 194,000 people have already been supported through the current distribution round. WFP’s Emergency Food Security Assessment, conducted in late January 2022, found that 59% of households in North Gondar rely on WFP’s assistance as their primary source of food and, at the time of the survey, 12% of households only had enough stock to last one more week. With this in mind, it is essential that WFP is able to continue its distribution of lifesaving assistance to communities in North Gondar at least until the next harvest in October/November 2022. In the Amhara Region, chronic food insecurity has been prevalent in recent years, but the conflict has greatly exacerbated the situation. According to WFP’s new Emergency Food Security Assessment – in which WFP interviewed over 1,800 families - 4.2 million people (45 percent of the population) are now food insecure in conflict-affected zones in the region. The Wag Hamra and South Gondar zones were found to be the worst off; 89 percent of households in Wag Hamra and 66 percent of households in South Gondar are food insecure. Both zones were under Tigray forces’ control for about five months prior to when WFP’s Emergency Food Security Assessment was conducted in late January 2022. Photo: WFP/Claire Nevill