Venezuela: Responding to the Impacts of the Ongoing Socioeconomic Crisis and Climate Change Through Information Management Services

Venezuela is facing an extended socioeconomic crisis resulting in hyperinflation, leaving over five million individuals in need of humanitarian assistance (HRP, 2022-2023). While the economic decline stood at 30% in 2020, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined in 2021 for the seventh year in a row, but this time, by only 3 percent (WFP Country Brief, September 2022).

However, the food security situation across the country remains fragile. According to the WFP Country Brief (September 2022), Venezuela imports more than 70 percent of its processed foods. Making the population highly vulnerable to food insecurity with low access to nutritious food and a varied diet. Due to the current Ukrainian crisis and soaring food prices globally, Venezuela, a country highly dependent on the international market, saw a 30 percent increase in food prices by August 2022 alone.

In April 2021, WFP and the Venezuelan government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing WFP to establish a presence in the country to provide critical humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities through food programs and logistical support to the overall humanitarian response.

Since July 2021, WFP has been providing food through school meals as an entry point to reach food insecure communities throughout the most vulnerable areas of the country. By September 2022, the program has been able to reach over 210,000 beneficiaries in areas of operation.

Furthermore, WFP has been leading the Logistics Cluster with the aim of providing coordination and information management (IM) services for national/international NGOs and private sector actors while working together with national authorities to overcome logistical challenges. This is complemented with the Logistics Cluster´s support to the emergency preparedness initiatives of partners while working to mitigate logistics barriers for operational deployments.

Oscar Gobbato, a highly seasoned IM officer was deployed in April through the Standby Partnership Programme (SBP) funded by USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance to WFP ´s Logistics Cluster in Venezuela with the aim of supporting the IM unit. One of the first activities Oscar conducted was the multisectoral gaps workshop in June to identify logistical challenges for emergency response preparations with the aim of finding possible solutions and establishing mitigation measures.

This activity was complemented by two surveys conducted in August and September to map the operational presence of humanitarian partners and the challenges faced in using river transportation for the delivery of humanitarian interventions.

However, flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in early October shifted the focus of the humanitarian community to prioritize relief efforts towards affected communities. The atmospheric phenomena stemming from climate change highlighted the need to improve the emergency preparedness capacities of national authorities and the humanitarian community operating in country.

As a result, Oscar initiated a series of activities starting with the coordination initiatives with UNOSAT and WFP country office to obtain satellite imagery to produce maps that show the effects of the natural disasters on the population and infrastructure. Furthermore, he launched the Logistics Capacity Assessment (LCA) tool, which is a standardized mean of organizing and disseminating information both within WFP and humanitarian stakeholders in Venezuela and globally.

The LCA activity, which is still in progress, aims to overcome the lack of adequate information regarding means of transportation. It covers the different types of ports, critical infrastructure, databases of private sector logistical organizations and suppliers used by the humanitarian community in response to the ongoing crisis.

The findings from the satellite imagery, survey results and the consolidation of data through the LCA tool, has allowed to make forecasts on the needs of transportation, comparisons of current and past floodings and the trends in logistical support needed by humanitarian partners in their response to the crisis.

Oscar Gobbato (IMO seconded to WFP in Venezuela) has added;

These activities continue to improve the response to the current natural disasters by creating synergies and information sharing which has led to a better understanding of the needs and operational gaps. Most importantly, the use of the LCA tool together with improved coordination has enabled WFP to shift its strategy in responding to the crisis and to support the strengthening of the emergency preparedness of both national bodies and the humanitarian community to ensure the sustainability of relief efforts of future natural disasters.