In Guatemala, 49.3 percent of children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition (height-for-age or stunting); this is the sixth highest prevalence rate in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean; 12 percent of infants are born underweight and 50 percent of children are chronically malnourished by the age of 3. The problem is concentrated in rural areas and among the indigenous population; the chronic malnutrition rate is 69.5 percent compared with 35.7 percent in non-indigenous areas.
Guatemala is prone to droughts and floods that affect the most vulnerable segments of the population. It has also been hit hard by the coffee crisis, whose effects on food security are widespread. These factors are of particular concern to a country with large income and social disparities where most infants are malnourished and at high risk of morbidity and mortality.
In June 2005, a joint food security and nutrition assessment by WFP, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Government revealed that these combined climatic and economic shocks have prevented households from recovering their livelihoods and nutritional well-being.
This protracted relief and recovery operation is a response to these findings; it will help save lives through supplementary and therapeutic feeding, and will fight chronic malnutrition by addressing several of the underlying causes in the target areas, including:
The operation will be implemented through the Ministry of Health’s primary health care structures in partnership with WFP, the World Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Its activities form part of the WFP/United Nations Children’s Fund joint programming effort in Guatemala.
This operation supports the Government’s hunger-reduction strategies; it is in line with WFP’s Strategic Objectives 1 and 3, with the Common Country Assessment/United Nations Development Framework 2005 to 2008 and with WFP’s Enhanced Commitments to Women.
