The World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with the government of Guinea-Bissau, has launched a new five-year country strategic plan to achieve food security and improved nutrition.
Development Diaries reports that the new strategic plan focuses on helping rural communities to build resilience to climate change and strengthen livelihoods.
According to the 2022 Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Country Index (1), Guinea-Bissau is the world’s third most vulnerable country to climate change.
An estimated 108,000 people were unable to meet their basic food and nutrition needs in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 1.7 percent increase from the same period in 2021.
This number is projected to increase to 117,000 people suffering from hunger between June and August 2023 unless urgent action is taken to address the key drivers of food security.
‘The government of Guinea Bissau has made commendable progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’, WFP’s Country Director in Guinea-Bissau, Joao Manja, said in a statement.
‘WFP is committed to continuing to support government efforts and forming partnerships to help vulnerable Bissau-Guineans gain access to nutritious food, become more resilient to climate shocks, and tackle poverty and hunger’.
WFP said it will implement a set of integrated activities to help reduce undernutrition and increase access to safe and nutritious food.
It is also understood that the UN agency will be working with national non-government organisations (NGOs) and local communities to support and purchase beans and tubers from smallholder farmers to feed schoolchildren, stimulating local agricultural production.
Source: WFP
Photo source: UNAMID
