WFP Cuba Country Brief, January 2017

WFP Cuba Country Brief, January 2017
REPORT from World Food Programme Published on 31 Jan 2017

WFP is providing food and logistical assistance to the populations
affected by Hurricane Matthew in eastern Cuba.

WFP supports the strengthening of drought-related early warning systems
at provincial level and the inclusion of vulnerability indicators for
food security and nutrition in drought risk assessments.

WFP continues strengthening the bean value-chain stakeholders through
trainings, technical support and equipment.

Operational Updates

WFP continues assisting the populations affected by hurricane Matthew in
eastern Cuba through distribution of rice and beans. WFP is also
strengthening food storage capacities in the two hardest-hit
municipalities with mobile storage units and lightning.

WFP is supporting the Government in strengthening its food-based social
safety nets. This includes the promotion of studies to assess trends in
the population's dietary habits. Data collection for the National Food
Consumption Survey is underway in all targeted provinces.

As part of the process to strengthen the bean value-chain in six
provinces, WFP facilitated a workshop in Pinar del Rio province
involving nearly 40 stakeholders. It validated the findings of the bean
value chain assessment conducted in November 2016. WFP also produced and
printed 1,000 manuals on sustainable bean production, which will be
distributed next month to farmers and cooperatives in all target
provinces. In addition, WFP organized a field mission to present its
training programme for 2017 to key value chain stakeholders in four
eastern provinces (Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas). The
programme entails strategic thematic areas such as production
technologies, management skills and cooperativism, institutional
framework and gender.

As part of the EU-funded drought resilience activities, WFP hosted a
workshop in Havana with all government counterparts at the national
level, focusing on communication tools for decision making. This process
will be replicated at the local level in February. WFP is also following
up on the drought early warning system pilot phase, which is being
implemented in 20 target municipalities from November 2016 to April
2017, under the supervision of national institutions. The objective is
to strengthen provincial drought early-warning systems in eastern Cuba,
and to include food security and nutrition vulnerability indicators in
drought risk assessments.

Challenges

WFP urgently needs 0.4 m for its response to Hurricane Matthew.

The Cuban Institute of Hydraulic Resources recently stressed that
drought continues to represent a challenge to public water supply and
agricultural production in the whole country, particularly in the
eastern region.

Mid-Term Evaluation of the Cuba Country Programme:

The Country Office is preparing for a visit by the independent team that
is conducting a mid-term evaluation of the Cuba Country Programme. A
debriefing will be organized at the end of the mission to share the
preliminary findings with WFP and its government counterparts.

Source: WFP Cuba Country Brief, January 2017 - Cuba | ReliefWeb -
http://reliefweb.int/report/cuba/wfp-cuba-country-brief-january-2017