The World Food Programme says it assisted 138,013 people in Namibia during April 2026 as climate-related shocks, flooding and food insecurity continued to place pressure on vulnerable households across the country.
According to the WFP Namibia Country Brief for April 2026, 53% of the beneficiaries were female, while 11,800 schoolchildren benefited from the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme and 126,213 children under the age of five received support through Early Childhood Development centres.
The agency said food security conditions remain under strain despite improvements recorded following government drought relief interventions and favourable rainfall conditions.
“The impact of multiple shocks continues to strain vulnerable households, with food security needs remaining high even after the national drought response programme ended,” WFP said.
WFP noted that Namibia’s humanitarian situation had improved compared to the previous year, with the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis estimating 456,000 people in need between July 2025 and June 2026, down from 1.15 million during the same period a year earlier.
The agency attributed the improvement to combined drought response measures by government, development partners and WFP interventions linked to the El Niño response programme, as well as improved rainfall.
The report also highlighted worsening flood conditions in the Zambezi Region following assessments conducted between 30 March and 2 April 2026 under the National Disaster Risk Management Committee coordinated by the Office of the Prime Minister.
According to WFP, seven constituencies in the region were affected, with damage reported to homesteads, croplands, cattle posts, roads and public infrastructure.
“Households displaced, malaria-related deaths increasing, and education services disrupted,” the agency said in its operational update.
The organisation said efforts were underway to coordinate a broader United Nations response to support affected communities.
WFP further reported progress in strengthening Namibia’s Home-Grown School Feeding Programme through a national inception workshop conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture.
The workshop reviewed implementation experiences from 29 pilot schools across seven regions and consolidated operational lessons to support the development of a national scale-up strategy.
The agency also participated in a high-level policy dialogue alongside UNICEF, the Ministry of Finance and the European Union focused on extending school feeding support to Early Childhood Development centres.
WFP said the discussions reaffirmed government commitment to integrating school feeding into ECD programmes while strengthening coordination with development partners.
The agency warned that additional funding remains necessary to sustain food security interventions, systems strengthening and resilience programmes nationwide.
According to the report, WFP Namibia’s 2026 country portfolio has a funding requirement of US$1.7 million between April and September 2026, with US$1.1 million currently funded, leaving a shortfall of about US$590,000.
