Summary of WFP assistance
WFP assists vulnerable populations in the Biombo, Quinara, Cacheu, Gabu, Bafatá and Oio regions, which were highlighted as highly food insecure by the 2010 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment. The Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) report of 2013, showed that food insecurity was exacerbated in 2013 by a poor cashew harvest and social unrest. The same study revealed an increasing number of households spend over 75 percent of their budget on food and 7 percent of the population was food secure. Coping strategies include reduction in the number of meals and the sale of household assets.
WFP will continue its school meals programme in five regions with net enrolment rates below 60 percent.
WFP also plans to support Food for Assets activities.
WFP staff undertook field missions to monitor stunting prevention activities under implementation in partnership with the NGO CARITAS in northern region of Oio. The team addressed difficulties faced in the implementation of the new activity and consulted with mothers and caregivers who received nutritional support in the form of Plumpy’Doz to assess the suitability of the product. The response was positive, the children appreciated the newly introduced commodity and no undesired effects were reported.
WFP is setting up a permanent system of monitoring the food and nutrition situation, which provides regular and timely information in the form of periodic bulletins to help in decision making.