Guinea-Bissau Country Programme (2016–2020)

About 70 percent of Bissau-Guineans live below the poverty line. Chronic food insecurity is compounded by shocks related to political instability, irregular rainfall and volatility of prices for imported rice and local cashew nuts for export.

Of the population aged 15 years and over, half are illiterate – 45 percent of men and 71 percent of women. Net enrolment, attendance and completion rates in primary schools are extremely low, with disparities among regions. Chronic malnutrition affects 27.6 percent of children under 5. At 3.3 percent, HIV prevalence is among the highest in West Africa; women are affected more than men.

Country programme 200846 builds on lessons learned from protracted relief and recovery operation 200526 and supports the Government’s strategic plan for 2015–2020. It fosters government and community ownership of an integrated multi-sector programme to improve nutrition, food security and the Government’s capacities in early warning and assessment.

Beneficiaries include primary schoolchildren, undernourished children aged 6–59 months, people living with HIV and tuberculosis, and smallholder farmers, predominantly women. Cash-based transfers will increase as rural financial services improve. The country programme is aligned with the United Nations Strategic Cooperation Framework for Guinea-Bissau, the Zero Hunger Challenge and WFP’s Regional Roadmap for West Africa. It will contribute to WFP Strategic Objectives 3 and 4, and Sustainable Development Goal 2.