2.3 million people
will be food insecure

Assistance value is not sufficient

to meet minimum living standards

Food insecurity is threatening 42 percent of local residents and Syrian refugees, according to a study conducted by World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The study found that two million people were food insecure in December 2022, including 1.3 million Lebanese and 700,000 Syrians. The total number is expected to increase to 2.26 million by April 2023.

The key drivers to food insecurity include high inflation, high unemployment, currency devaluation and loss of purchasing power, in addition to limited value of assistance provided, and the removal of subsidies that resulted in price increases of food and fuels and healthcare, transport, and telecommunications services.

Cash assistance to Lebanese residents is expected to remain at the current levels, but the level of assistance to Syrian refugees for food and basic needs may be reduced by up to 20 percent due to shrinking aid budgets.

The value of the cash transfers that is intended to cover both food and non-food needs was not sufficient to meet minimum living standards. It plummeted to less than 35 percent of the actual cost of those needs in September 2022 compared to 62 percent in August 2021.

The study recommends that values of cash assistance should be continuously updated to match the cost of basic needs. There should also be a continuous monitoring of risk factors, including currency devaluation, changes in the prices of essential commodities and services, as well as political developments.

The study is based on a nationwide analysis, and it is a secondary analysis for studies previously conducted by other entities, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).