Emergency/Long Term Food Security & Resilience
Our Work Overseas
CRS food security activities supported by the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance
CRS’ History in Emergency/Long Term Food Security & Resilience
Catholic Relief Services has partnered with the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) since its inception in 1954, working not only on implementing emergency and development food security programs, but also on supporting their evolution through advocacy with the Administration and Congress.
USAID and CRS have partnered in many countries around the world to improve nutrition and livelihoods of vulnerable families; increase income options; and reduce risks to health and to individuals facing catastrophes such as drought, flood, locusts, and the diseases associated with malnutrition. Working together with a shared vision for healthy futures, peaceful societies and sustainable economies, we have partnered in multi-sectoral integrated programs that build on the existing capacities and challenges of vulnerable communities.
CRS is currently implementing Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) programs in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar and Niger, and multi-year emergency programs in Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan and Sudan.
This programming is grounded in CRS' Integral Human Development (IHD) Framework, which places people at the center of development, promoting a holistic approach to wellbeing that considers the context and the environment, including the ways in which people interact with the institutions and systems that impact their lives.
Explore CRS DFSA by Country
CRS’ Current Work in Emergency/Long Term Food Security & Resilience
We recognize that the causes of food insecurity and malnutrition are complex and cannot be overcome by one organization alone. We partner with local governments and local organizations and most importantly, with affected communities, prioritizing collaboration and coordination with stakeholders to create sustainable impact at all levels: individual, household, community and government.
We are dedicated to designing, refining, and implementing inclusive, locally led, sustainable development activities.
Our strength is using an integrated approach to address food and nutrition security. We combine agriculture, nutrition, livelihoods and capacity strengthening to help vulnerable people improve the quality of their lives.
Because the drivers of food and nutrition insecurity vary widely, CRS and our local partners develop a context-specific vision of change. This work is led by staff who have technical experience and deep, contextual understanding of the communities we are supporting.
Emergency/Long Term Food Security & Resilience – Previous Experience
CRS has been implementing Title II awards under the Food for Peace Act, now known as Resilience Food Security Awards (RFSA, formerly DFSA), since at least 1989. CRS uses its wealth of experience to design and implement its current RFSA programs, which are funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. In addition to experience in Burundi, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, the most recent awards have produced a wealth of learning resources.
Explore recently closed RFSAs by Country
Maharo RFSA in Madagascar. From 2019 to 2024, CRS led the 7-partner Maharo consortium in persevering through drought, COVID-19, and other climate shocks and variability, to help communities build their resilience to shocks.
- Final evaluation (forthcoming)
- Participant-led Visual Monitoring and Evaluation for Resilience and Community Visioning in Southern Madagascar
- Improving Access to Agricultural Inputs through the Private Input Service Provider Model in Southern Madagascar
Budikadidi RFSA in DRC. From 2016 to 2023, CRS led the 6-partner Budikadidi consortium which sought to improve nutrition and food security in rural households in the Eastern Kasais. It targeted pregnant or breastfeeding women, community leaders, and local authorities, focusing on building local capacity, strengthening service-delivery systems, and addressing barriers to health and nutrition through various interventions, including water/sanitation strategies and economic development activities.
- The Benefits of Social Cohesion Integration for Multisectoral Programming
- Internal Collaboration Drives Improved Integration and Nutrition in the DRC
Nuyok DFSA in Uganda. From 2017 to 2023, CRS led the 6-partner Nuyok consortium, which served as a buffer to repeated shocks, bolstering resilience and protecting households and communities against worsening conditions in Uganda’s Karamoja region.
- Nuyok Final Evaluation
- Effectiveness of Poverty Graduation in Improving Household Incomes Among Ultra-Poor Women in Napak District
- Youth Entrepreneurship Program: Lessons from the Nuyok Activity in Abim District
ELRP DFSA in Ethiopia. From 2016 to 2021, CRS led the 5-partner Ethiopian Livelihoods and Resilience Program (ELRP) in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. uses a phased approach to create demand, improve resources, strengthen capacity levels of and linkages between interdependent community service providers, and transition necessary program elements over to a more fully capable network of local government, program participants, and local partners.
- DFSA Final Program Report
- Women’s Traditional Roles Shared in Ethiopia
- Community Conversations
