Central African Republic interim country strategic plan (2018–2023)

ICSP approved at EB November 2017 session.

Revision 03 approved by the ED in May 2018.

Revision 04 approved by the ED-DG FAO in August 2019. 

Revision 05 approved by the ED-DG FAO in August 2020. 

Revision 06 approved by the ED in October 2021. 

Revision 07 approved by the RD in November 2022. 

With a per capita gross domestic product of USD 323, the Central African Republic ranks last in the 2016 Human Development Index. It is estimated that 76 percent of the 4.7 million population lives in poverty. The causes include low productivity, weak markets and high gender inequality intensified by cycles of political crisis and insecurity. These peaked in 2013, displacing 1.3 million people. Renewed fighting between various armed groups since September 2016 has caused new population displacements; 23 percent of the population remains displaced as of August 2017. Disrupted livelihoods have weakened food production and household purchasing power, causing a fall in food consumption and dietary diversity. About 2.15 million people are food insecure, of which 6 percent are severely food insecure, and households headed by women are 10 percent more likely to be food insecure than households headed by men. Among children aged 6–59 months, the prevalence of stunting is 40 percent, affecting 340,000 children, and the average rate of global acute malnutrition is 6 percent.

Under the interim country strategic plan, WFP will maintain a crisis response level appropriate under the prevailing circumstances while scaling up support for recovery programmes in areas of relative security. WFP will also support government capacity strengthening. A gradual transfer of responsibilities in the coordination and leadership of future crisis response and resilience-building interventions will depend primarily on the full roll-out and functioning of sectoral coordination arrangements under the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan and on government capacity to assume these roles. For 2018, the cluster system for the coordination of humanitarian action will be maintained.

The interim country strategic plan will contribute to the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017–2021 and the draft United Nations Development Assistance Framework. Plus (2018–2021), which both prioritize three pillars: peace, security and reconciliation, renewing the social contract between the state and its citizens, and ensuring economic recovery and revitalizing productive sectors. The interim country strategic plan is similarly aligned with the 2017–2019 Humanitarian Response Plan. A transition from the interim country strategic plan to a country strategic plan will be achieved by December 2020.

The Government is WFP’s primary partner in the country. Other partners are the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization, the Scaling Up Nutrition initiative, the World Bank, and national and international non-governmental organizations. WFP will bring together its technical, diagnostic, logistic and coordination capacities to strengthen partner convergence around five interlinked strategic outcomes. These are designed to support the progressive transfer of capacities and resources to national structures and the creation of policy instruments for the provision of food security, nutrition, health and common services to the population of the Central African Republic.

The strategic outcomes are:

• Strategic outcome 1: Crisis-affected households and communities in targeted areas can meet their basic food and nutrition needs both during and in the aftermath of crises. ➢ Strategic outcome 2: Vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, children, pregnant and lactating women and girls, and malnourished anti-retroviral treatment patients living in target regions, have an improved nutritional status in line with national targets by 2020.
• Strategic outcome 3: Food-insecure women and men living in targeted areas have enhanced livelihoods to support the food security and nutrition needs of their households and communities by 2020.
• Strategic outcome 4: National and subnational institutions have strengthened capacities to establish an adequate social protection system and manage food security and nutrition policies and programmes by 2020.
• Strategic outcome 5: The humanitarian community (partners and donors) has enhanced capacity to reach and operate in areas of humanitarian crisis all year-round.

The interim country strategic plan will contribute to WFP Strategic Results 1 (access to food); 2 (end malnutrition); 3 (smallholders productivity and incomes); 5 (capacity strengthening); and 8 (enhance global partnership).