The ongoing economic and financial crisis in Lebanon, which began in October 2019, has greatly worsened the food security situation in the country. This crisis has particularly affected a vulnerable population that includes Lebanese residents, Syrian refugees, Palestine refugees in Lebanon, Palestine refugees from Syria, as well as other refugee groups and migrant workers. 

Based on the current classification, 21 percent of the Lebanese population corresponding to about 806,000 people, and 36 percent of the Syrian refugee population corresponding to 540,000 people were estimated to be in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above requiring urgent humanitarian action to reduce food gaps, diversify food intake, protect, and restore livelihoods and prevent acute malnutrition. Of particular concern, the situation of 59,000 (2 percent) Lebanese residents and 48,000 (3 percent) Syrian refugees in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) requires urgent delivery of humanitarian food assistance

For the first time, the IPC Acute Food Insecurity analysis incorporated Palestine refugees in Lebanon (PRL) and Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS) – the third and fourth largest population groups in the country. This national-level analysis revealed that 65,000 Palestine refugees were in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above, with 30 percent of PRL and 35 percent of PRS falling into this category. Among them, 2 percent of PRL (4,000 individuals) and 5 percent of PRS (2,000 individuals) were in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency).

Rising inflation and record high depreciation of the local currency continued to be key drivers of food insecurity impacting all the analysed population groups. Although higher employment levels were observed among Lebanese during the first half of 2023, legal barriers continue to hinder the access of Syrian and Palestine refugees to formal employment, which result in their engagement in informal labour, if any, leading to exploitative working conditions, lower wages, and lack of legal protection. Hence, Syrian and Palestine refugees are reliant on humanitarian aid which do not cover the minimum requirements to meet food and other basic needs.

Lifesaving and Humanitarian Food Assistance: Urgent action is required to save lives and reduce food consumption gaps of populations categorized as being in Emergency and Crisis (IPC Phases 4 and 3) by improving access to food through appropriate modalities. Any further reduction in the humanitarian response with inappropriate transfer values or food quantities will lead to further deterioration of the food security of vulnerable households. As such, it is crucial to ensure that the humanitarian food assistance value is set based on needs and gaps. In addition, ensure alignment between the transfer value of cash for food and multi-purpose cash assistance with the market-based Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) values while regularly updating the assistance provided to all populations based on the monitoring of risk factors and contextual development.

Social safety net systems: Gradual and full unification of existing social safety nets is recommended to ensure appropriate operational implementation and governance. Expansion and standardization of such programmes is required as to ensure consistent assistance is provided to extremely poor Lebanese families. 

Livelihoods Assistance: with increased unemployment rate, limited job opportunities and high reliance on negative livelihood coping strategies, the scale-up of livelihood support programs especially in the agricultural sector is required to ensure access to stable income sources and mitigate the loss of purchasing power of the most vulnerable households. Interventions targeting micro, small and medium enterprises and cooperatives are crucial for improved performance and expanded market access, which stimulate local markets and improve local economic growth.  As such, livelihood interventions that strengthen Lebanese, Syrian and Palestine households’ economy and resilience are recommended to ensure households remain food and nutrition secure.