IPC in East and Central Africa

East and Central Africa is the place where the IPC was originally developed. Since its inception in 2004 in Somalia, the IPC has been implemented at various stages in 12 countries of Eastern and Central Africa.

The region was identified for the IPC roll out based on:

• its strong humanitarian imperative; and
• its existing conducive national capacity and institutional frameworks.

The IPC Global Strategic Programme (2014-2018) is supported and funded by the European Union, the UK Government (DFID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Furthermore, IPC Global Partners and National Governments are co-funding IPC activities at country level, and are coordinated by the IPC Regional Steering Committee of the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG) for East and Central Africa.

The regional FSNWG, which was established in 2005, is a platform for sharing information on food security and nutrition, building a consensual situation analysis, and bringing together a broad number of stakeholders for advocacy and response. Established by a group of international NGOs and UN Agencies, it has been co-chaired by the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) since December 2011, marking an important step towards institutionalizing food security coordination in the region.

The FSNWG hosts a Regional IPC Steering Committee since 2007. Its main objectives are:

• Technical support, training and quality control;
• Regional awareness and advocacy;
• Regional coordination;
• Regional analysis;
• Contribution to technical developments with the IPC Global Support Unit; and
• Fundraising.

Since 2011, the IPC has been consolidated in Burundi, CAR, Djibouti, DRC, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and is being introduced in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

In line with the strategic objectives of the IPC Global Strategic Programme (2014-2018), a specific focus has been given to the roll-out of the Chronic Food Insecurity (CFI) classification and the Acute Malnutrition (AMN) classification in the region. As of today:

• The IPC Chronic Food Insecurity scale roll-out has been completed in Burundi, Djibouti, DRC and Uganda, and is ongoing in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, which plan to carry out the analysis in 2018.
• The IPC Acute Malnutrition scale roll-out has been completed in Kenya, Burundi, South Sudan and Uganda, and discussions are ongoing in Djibouti and Somalia.

Currently participating countries in Eastern and Central Africa are at three IPC stages of implementation, specifically:

• Stage 1: Awareness-raising and consultations: Ethiopia
• Stage 2: Initial in-country training and analysis: Rwanda
• Stage 3: Ongoing training and analysis: Burundi, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

For more information about the IPC in East and Central Africa, please contact:

Mr. Kamau Wanjohi
IPC Regional Coordinator for East and Central Africa (ECA)
IPC Global Support Unit (IPC GSU) - Regional Coordination Team
Hosted at IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC)
Ngong Rd. Dagoretti Corner, Nairobi, Kenya
Kamau.Wanjohi@fao.org