Situation  

• Deteriorating political and economic conditions in Venezuela—characterized by extreme hyperinflation and a severe lack of financial means to access food and medicine—have contributed to increasing humanitarian needs, triggering an influx of Venezuelans into Brazil, as well as other countries in the region.
• As of November 2019, more than 250,000 Venezuelans—many of whom remain in need of food assistance—were sheltering in Brazil, according to the Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V).  The population influx is straining the capacity of the Government of Brazil (GoB) to provide services in areas of the country bordering Venezuela, particularly in Roraima and Amazonas states.
• In 2018, the GoB established a voluntary relocation program for Venezuelans intending to remain in Brazil.  The GoB—with support from relief actors—facilitates the voluntary resettlement of Venezuelans from Amazonas and Roraima to other areas across Brazil to reduce the impact of population flows on the border regions and provide better socioeconomic opportunities for refugees and migrants.

Response

• USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) partners with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) to provide food vouchers and locally procured food aid to approximately 21,450 vulnerable Venezuelans and host community members sheltering in Amazonas, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Roraima states.  ADRA also provides food assistance to Venezuelans who have been voluntarily resettled in other areas of Brazil as a part of the GoB relocation program.
• The vouchers, designed to meet approximately 75 percent of monthly food needs, allow Venezuelans and host community members to purchase nutritious food available in local markets. Additionally, FFP supports ADRA to provide hot meals to Venezuelans and host community members through local community kitchens in Roraima.
• With FFP support, ADRA also conducts nutritional messaging activities for Venezuelans in Roraima’s Boa Vista city, including providing pamphlets in Spanish with information on nutritious, low-cost meal planning, dietary diversity, and locally available foods that may be unfamiliar to Venezuelans. 

Food for Peace Contributions

Total Contributions:

* Metric tonnage does not reflect funding for vouchers or cash transfers. 

Related Resources

• Venezuela Regional Crisis
• Venezuelan Voices—A spiraling regional crisis hits Ecuador