World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

In El Salvador WFP works with a wide range of partners including government, regional and international institutions, NGOs, the UN System, private sector  and at different levels, from policy development to operational implementation in the field. WFP El Salvador’s country strategy focus is strengthening the institutions involved in social protection, emergency preparedness and response, and agriculture and market development. WFP had defined three priorities in El Salvador related with improving social protection of vulnerable population groups through food and nutrition security-based interventions; disaster risk mitigation and strengthening smallholder agriculture and associated market development.
WFP El Salvador activities are based on strategic areas:
1. SOCIAL PROTECTION: Nutrition Programmes and School Feeding
Nutrition Programmes

• Nourishing El Salvador: This initiative, implemented by WFP in coordination with local partners, aims to strengthen social safety nets to reduce under nutrition among children. The project seeks to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable population groups in the municipalities with the highest rates of stunting, which represents a serious social and health problem. In its second phase this initiative will benefit 11,800 children under five; 7,600 pregnant and lactating women. The projected coverage includes 36 municipalities with stunting rates above 29%.

• SUN Initiative: This project aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of governments to enhance nutritional care for children under 2, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers. The project is based on the “1000 days” window of opportunity, an approach based on the SUN initiative framework with the purpose of promoting the eradication of hunger and under nutrition by encouraging countries to prioritize nutrition in their development programmes, emphasizing the right investments to save lives to improve economic perspectives in order to improve prosperity welfare and opportunities for all citizens.

School Feeding

School Feeding Programme: WFP addresses food and nutrition insecurity of vulnerable groups by strengthening social protection programmes, such as supporting the government financed school meals programme. WFP is assisting the Ministry of Education in the procurement, logistics, quality control and capacity development of the National School Feeding Programme. This Programme was successfully institutionalized under the full responsibility of the Ministry of Education at the end of 2007. The School Feeding Programme is now reaching over 1.35 million students in urban and rural areas.

Inter-Agency Joint Programme on Infancy and on Food and Nutrition Security (WFP, PAHO/WHO, UNICEF, UNDP): El Salvador officially launched its FNS Policy in May 2011 and is now faced with the challenge with its effective implementation securing an inter sector approach under the leadership of the National Council on Food and Nutrition Security known by its Spanish acronym as CONASAN. In this framework, WFP is contributing to strengthen the knowledge and skills of 100 national and local decision makers through the implementation of an on line course, a diploma course and a local course on FNS. WFP is also providing technical support for the design and implementation of four FNS Information and Monitoring Systems, one at the national level and three at the municipal level. In addition, WFP is promoting good food and nutrition practices on the part of the school community in 58 schools by providing training and equipment in order to improve the implementation of healthy school stores, the handling and preparation of school meals and the implementation of school gardens.

2. DISASTER MITIGATION: Emergency Preparedness and Response and Climate Change Adaptation.

Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) “Assistance to Vulnerable Groups Affected by Natural Disasters and Other Shocks in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua”: The lives and livelihoods of thousands of Salvadorans is constantly affected by a series of small scale and localized natural disasters, including flooding, landslides and droughts which will become increasingly recurrent due to El Salvador´s high vulnerability to disasters and the effects of climate change.

In order to address in a targeted, complementary and cost effective manner the effects and adaptation of climate change, WFP in El Salvador is part of a Regional Operation with Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua which is activated when natural disasters threatens the food and nutritional security of the most vulnerable populations of these countries. It includes relief, food for work, food for training as well as development and educational activities with counterparts and communities.

WFP in El Salvador manages the Regional Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response in the international airport of Comalapa which facilitates rapid response to emergencies- both in El Salvador and neighboring countries.

3. SMALL HOLDER AGRICULTURE AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT: Purchase for Progress and Ready-Made School Meals Programme.
Purchase for Progress:
Through this new modality WFP seeks to reduce agricultural household’s vulnerability to food insecurity by leveraging its purchasing power, strengthening local production capacity and stimulating local food markets. WFP El Salvador is working with 18 local associations which involve more than 4,500 small farmers who are now better connected to markets. 
   
Ready-Made School Meals Programme:
WFP is developing a new delivery modality in school feeding, in which women led microenterprises to supply ready-made school meals during lunch time. This pilot educational project involves 22 schools in the country. The main objective is to promote development initiatives lead by women to stimulate local economies and to recognize them as productiveness agents.  In this new modality are participating other WFP partners: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, National Commission for the SMEs Initiatives and local communities.