Executive Board First regular session Rome, 25 February–1 March 2019 Distribution: General Agenda item 6 Date: 12 December 2018 WFP/EB.1/2019/6-A/7/DRAFT Original: English Operational matters – Country strategic plans For approval Executive Board documents are available on WFP’s website (https://executiveboard.wfp.org). Draft Nicaragua country strategic plan (2019–2023) Duration 1 April 2019–31 December 2023 Total cost to WFP USD 66,815,944 Gender and age marker* 4 * http://gender.manuals.wfp.org/en/gender-toolkit/gender-in-programming/gender-and-age-marker/ Executive summary In the last decade, Nicaragua has achieved sustained economic growth and social development with improving nutrition indicators making it one of the countries that has reduced hunger the most in the region. However, natural disasters, climate change, poverty and social and economic fragility still threaten the food security of the most vulnerable people, particularly those in rural and remote areas. Targeted and coordinated efforts are therefore needed in order to reach Sustainable Development Goal 2 on zero hunger. Working in line with Nicaragua’s national human development plan for 2018–2021, WFP will help to accelerate action towards the achievement of zero hunger. The five-year country strategic plan for 2019–2023 has the aim of tackling the underpinning causes of food and nutrition insecurity by promoting long-term solutions to hunger. At the same time, considering the persistent levels of poverty and vulnerability to food insecurity in the country, WFP will continue to provide direct assistance with a view to ensuring that the most vulnerable people have access to nutritious and adequate food, including during emergencies. In this work, WFP’s added value lies in its capacity to operate at the humanitarian–development nexus. Informed by the national zero hunger strategic review and consultations with government partners, the country strategic plan has four strategic outcomes, which address hunger gaps identified in Nicaragua: Focal points: Mr M. Barreto Ms A. D’Aprile Regional Director Country Director Latin America and the Caribbean email: [email protected] email: [email protected] World Food Programme, Via Cesare Giulio Viola, 68/70, 00148 Rome, Italy WFP/EB.1/2019/6-A/7/DRAFT 2 ➢ Strategic outcome 1: People in targeted areas who are living in poverty or vulnerable to food insecurity have access to adequate nutritious food all year round by 2023. ➢ Strategic outcome 2: Vulnerable communities and smallholder farmers in targeted areas benefit from sustainable food systems and have strengthened capacities to cope with shocks, climate change and natural hazards by 2023. ➢ Strategic outcome 3: National institutions have improved capacities to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment and to incorporate gender-transformative approaches into programmes, contributing to the achievement of zero hunger by 2023. ➢ Strategic outcome 4: Populations affected by shocks have access to adequate and nutritious food during and after an emergency. For WFP, the country strategic plan represents a strategic shift towards new areas of collaboration, including climate change adaptation, resilience building and the pursuit of gender equality as a catalyst for zero hunger. WFP will also strengthen national social protection programmes and disaster risk reduction systems in order to improve the efficiency of food security and nutrition interventions. Consideration of nutrition issues will be integrated into all activities as a cross-cutting theme for ensuring the delivery of nutrition-sensitive responses. The country strategic plan is aligned with the WFP Strategic Plan (2017–2021) and contributes to Strategic Results 1 on access to food, 4 on sustainable food systems and 5 on capacity strengthening. It supports Nicaragua in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17, working in partnership and coordination with the Government, United Nations agencies, academic institutions and other actors. Draft decision The Board approves the Nicaragua country strategic plan (2019–2023) (WFP/EB.1/2019/6-A/7) at a total cost to WFP of USD 66,815,944. * This is a draft decision. For the final decision adopted by the Board, please refer to the decisions and recommendations document issued at the end of the session. WFP/EB.1/2019/6-A/7/DRAFT 3 1. Country analysis 1.1 Country context 1. As a lower-middle-income country in Central America, Nicaragua has achieved increased human development and sustained economic growth over the past five years. This has been accompanied by reductions in the prevalence of poverty, which was about 30 percent (29 percent among women and 31 percent among men) in 2014, and extreme poverty, which was 8 percent (9 percent among men and 8 percent among women) in the same year.1 However, low incomes, the predominance of informal employment, economic and social fragility, systemic gender inequalities, climate change and natural disasters continue to threaten food security. Nicaragua remains among the poorest countries in the region, with poverty affecting children under 17 years of age in particular. With a Gini coefficient of 0.47, Nicaragua has an unequal income distribution and ranked 124th of 189 countries in the 2017 Human Development Index. In addition, as the result of a surge in social instability, the country is now facing an economic downturn, which may lead to an increase in poverty and threaten the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people.2 2. With 6.4 million inhabitants (50 percent women and girls and 50 percent men and boys), Nicaragua has a large rural population accounting for 42 percent of the total. Disparities between urban and rural areas are significant: about 70 percent of poor people live in rural areas. Scattered and isolated rural communities face shortages of infrastructure and insufficient access to electricity, water and sanitation. Poverty rates are also high in the central area and the Northern and Southern Autonomous Atlantic Caribbean Regions (RACCN and RACCS).3 Indigenous groups, including Mayagna, Miskito, Rama, Kriol and Garifuna, account for 9 percent of the population and have historically suffered from lower levels of development.4 3. Nicaragua ranks 6th on the Global Gender Gap Index as a result of improvements in women’s political participation and access to secondary education.5 However, challenges remain regarding gender-based violence and women’s economic empowerment. Nicaragua also presents one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy in the Latin America and Caribbean region. As a result, it ranks 106th on the Gender Inequality Index.6 In addition, 37 percent of households are headed by women, which has implications for the women’s paid and unpaid labour and by adding to their economic and caring responsibilities. 1 National Institute for Development Information (Instituto Nacional de Información de Desarrollo, or INIDE). 2014. Nicaragua living standards measurement survey 2014 (Encuesta de Medición de Nivel de Vida 2014. Available (in Spanish) at https://www.ilo.org/surveydata/index.php/catalog/1618/study-description. An update of the Nicaragua living standards measurement survey indicates that poverty prevalence declined to 25 percent in 2016, but no data disaggregated by sex and age are available. INIDE. 2016. Report on Poverty and Inequality (Reporte de Pobreza y Desigualdad). Available (in Spanish) at http://www.inide.gob.ni/Emnv/Emnv17/Reporte%20de%20Pobreza%20y%20Desigualdad%20-%20EMNV%202016%20- %20Final.pdf. 2 Central Bank of Nicaragua. 2018. BCN President presents updated projections (Presidente del BCN expone proyecciones actualizadas) (https://www.bcn.gob.ni/divulgacion_prensa/notas/2018/noticia.php?nota=808). 3 INIDE. 2014. Nicaragua living standards measurement survey 2014 (Encuesta de Medición de Nivel de Vida 2014). Available at https://www.ilo.org/surveydata/index.php/catalog/1618/study-description. 4 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 2010. Indigenous Peoples in Latin America (https://www.cepal.org/en/infografias/los-pueblos-indigenas-en-america-latina). 5 World Economic Forum. 2018. The Global Gender Gap Report 2017. Available at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf. 6 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2018. Gender Inequality Index 2017. See http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii. WFP/EB.1/2019/6-A/7/DRAFT 4 4. Located in a hotspot for natural disasters and climate change, Nicaragua ranks fourth among the world’s countries that have been most affected by natural events over the last 20 years7 and is 14th among the countries at highest risk because of its low coping capacity.8 Recurrent earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and droughts, coupled with environmental degradation threaten the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, who lack the resources to withstand shocks. In the last 45 years, 14,500 human lives and about USD 4.5 billion have been lost to natural disasters.9 1.2 Progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 2 Progress on SDG 2 targets 5. Access to adequate food all year. Food supply has been improving in Nicaragua, with the daily caloric intake per person increasing from 1,774 kcal in 1990–1992 to 2,649 kcal in 2014–2016.10 A lack of access to nutritious food continues to be a main driver of food insecurity, however, particularly for poor and extremely poor people, whose daily energy intakes are well below the national average, 2,080 kcal for poor people and 1,655 kcal for extremely poor people. In rural areas, diets comprise only 15 food products, compared with 24 in urban areas.11 Lack of food access is related to socio-economic constraints, including poverty, low incomes, limited education and lack of employment, which have different effects on women and men and on people in different age groups. While the richest quintile of the population accounts for 41 percent of total consumption,12 the minimum salary is not sufficient to cover the cost of a basic basket of food and non-food items.