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Cuba

WFP Cuba Country Brief, February 2017

Situation Report
Source
Posted
Originally published

Highlights

  • WFP is providing food and logistical assistance to the populations affected by Hurricane Matthew in eastern Cuba.

  • WFP supports the strengthening of drought-related early warning systems at provincial level and the use of vulnerability indicators for food security and nutrition in drought risk assessments.

  • WFP continues strengthening the bean value-chain stakeholders through trainings, technical support and equipment.

  • An independent team is conducting an evaluation of WFP Cuba Country Programme.

Operational Updates

  • WFP continues assisting the populations affected by hurricane Matthew in eastern Cuba through distribution of rice and beans. WFP is also strengthening food storage capacities in the two hardest-hit municipalities with mobile storage units and lightning.

  • WFP is supporting the Government in strengthening its food-based social safety nets. This includes the promotion of studies to assess trends in the population’s dietary habits. Data collection for the National Food Consumption Survey is underway in all targeted provinces. To date, over 80 percent of the planned interviews were carried out.

  • As part of the process to strengthen the bean valuechain in six provinces, WFP started implementing its 2017 training programme for key value chain actors in five provinces (Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas and Matanzas). The programme entails strategic thematic areas such as production technologies, management skills and cooperativism, institutional framework and gender. WFP also distributed 1,000 manuals on sustainable bean production to farmers and cooperatives in all target provinces. In addition, a high-level meeting was organised in early February with the Vice-Minister of Agriculture to share operational results and explore further institutional support needed for programme implementation.

  • As part of the EU-funded drought resilience activities, WFP hosted a workshop in all five eastern provinces focusing on communication tools for decision-making. This process gave continuation to the workshop launched last month at the national level. WFP is also following up on the drought early warning system pilot phase, which is being implemented in 20 target municipalities from November 2016 to April 2017, under the supervision of national institutions. The objective is to strengthen provincial drought earlywarning systems in eastern Cuba, and to use food security and nutrition vulnerability indicators in drought risk assessments.

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