This project document is being modified and extended as BR No. 03 from  1 January to 31 December 2011.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the world’s least developed nations. Its socio-economic indicators trail most other sub-Saharan African countries.

Food security remains precarious and agricultural production has not returned to the pre 1998 civil war level. Years of political instability have seriously weakened an already poor infrastructure. Food Security Monitoring (FSM) surveys conducted by the WFP estimate that the proportion of severe food insecurity in the surveyed rural areas show only slight improvements, from 25% percent in March 2007 to 17 percent in April 2008. The nutritional situation is worrisome, with acute malnutrition and child mortality rates being particularly high (over 40 percent chronically malnourished and 223 deaths for every 1000 children under five) in rural areas, especially during the May to September lean season. Health infrastructure remains very poor and access to care is precarious. Net primary schools enrolment rates remain very low, at only 54percent.

Building on previous operations, PRRO 10609.0 will provide assistance to vulnerable populations at critical times of their lives. 90 percent of WFP assistance will be geographically targeted towards the most affected regions comprised of Bafata, Gabu, and Oio. A 2005 VAM survey highlighted lean season vulnerability rates in these core regions at 40 percent or above. In addition, WFP will assist vulnerable populations in the Biombo, Cacheu, Quinara and Tombali regions, where FSM studies carried out in 2007 and 2008 highlighted high level of food insecurity.

WFP assistance will incorporate all of the MDGs, their consequent national development goals, and WFP Strategic Objectives 2, 3, 4 and 5, by reducing food insecurity and improving education, health, and environmental outcomes.  WFP assistance under this PRRO will help achieve these wider goals through interventions that include food for work, food for training, school feeding, mother and child health and nutrition, and supplementary feeding and nutritional support to vulnerable groups (people living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and TB). 526,015 indirect beneficiaries targeted under PRRO 101609.0 include (i) children under five, (ii) pregnant and lactating mothers, (iii) preschool and primary school children and (iv) food insecure households.

Since PRRO 10609.0 is envisioned as a bridge between reconstruction and future development operations, it is important to lay the groundwork for transferring the programmes’ management to the government.  Capacity building and assistance will be provided to the government and cooperating partners in order to improve overall future implementation capacity. WFP assistance to Guinea-Bissau is planned to shift towards development from 2011 onwards based on the positive impact of the PRRO and will be gradually phased out following the government’s increased capacity and investment

Countries

Guinea-Bissau

The internal conflict in Guinea Bissau, which broke out in June 1998 and lasted 11 months, caused infrastructure destruction, the collapse of administrative structures and the disintegration of the social fabric.It is ranked 175 out of 177 countries according to the Human Development Index(HDI) Report in 2007/2008. Poverty, unemployment and social and eco...