Food security levels are generally better than a year earlier in East Africa and the Sahel, with most areas facing either IPC phase 1 ‘minimal’ or phase 2 ‘stressed’ conditions, thanks to favorable agro-climatic conditions in 2012.

Talk of the Month: P4P and the Private Sector

In the LAC region, the implementation of the Purchase for Progress (P4P) strategy is based on tackling both the demand and supply sides of the staple-grain sector, combining market opportunities with a series of complementary interventions to build capabilities among farmers and their organizations.

From its inception, P4P in the region envisaged building sustainable business relationships between farmers’ organizations (FOs) and the private sector.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• GUATEMALA: 1,520 people affected by rains, 90 evacuated and 70 in shelters.

• ECUADOR: Lack of rain is affecting several regions in Loja, with an estimated 80 per cent in crops losses.

• GUATEMALA: Red alert in the department of Peten for fires, authorities are combating 12 forest fires.

Acute food insecurity is likely to remain Minimal even with the lean season underway

KEY MESSAGES

• The lean season is underway and will continue through August. Acute food insecurity will likely remain Minimal (Phase 1, IPC 2.0) through the projection period, September 2013, as poor households are meeting their needs due to average to good income, average production and relatively accessible consumer prices. Food access from the Primera season will be accessible from August on.

Dry soil conditions could affect the early start of the Primera and Primavera seasons

KEY MESSAGES

• Better rainfall totals during March helped to reduce the dry conditions reported in the past months as a result of below-normal rainfall accumulation in Haiti and Central America (figure 1).

• The Primera season in Central America is expected to start on time in May, with some areas beginning in June. Good soil conditions in western Guatemala prompted an early sowing of maize.

Abstract

The main staple foods produced and consumed throughout most of Central America and the Caribbean are maize, rice, and beans; the latter constituting a key source of protein for poor households. In Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua white maize, mostly consumed in the form of tortillas, and red or black beans are preferred, while in Costa Rica and Panama rice dominates in production and consumption. In Haiti, the primary staples are rice, black beans, and maize.

1. Context

During the last years, the rapid expansion of non-political organized armed actors such as drug cartels, street gangs (maras) and organized crime groups has increased the level and intensity of violence in the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA - covering Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) and Mexico. The humanitarian consequences of this phenomenon are comparable to the ones experienced during the civil wars that plagued the region at the end of the 20th century.

School failure affects more than 3.5 million children and adolescents in Central America

The study notes the progress made in education in the region and the ‘bottlenecks’ that still prevent the universalization of basic education

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, April 17, 2013 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Central American Educational and Cultural Coordination of Central American Integration System (CECC / SICA) launched today, in a joint effort, the report Finishing school in Central America: the pending challenges.