CSP approved at EB.1/2019
Although Côte d’Ivoire is considered a low-middle-income country, it ranks 171st of 188 countries in the Human Development Index. It is subject to pervasive food insecurity, malnutrition and gender inequalities, which severely affect smallholder farmers as they struggle with issues of land access and frequent climate-related shocks. Côte d’Ivoire has a population of 25 million people, of which 48.4 percent are female1 and 46 percent live below the poverty line. It is ranked 155th on the Gender Inequality Index.
A 2018 nationally led consultative zero hunger strategic review identified several legal instruments and policies that promote food security and nutrition in Côte d’Ivoire. However, poor coordination, weak national capacities and slow implementation of national programmes impede progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 2. Food insecurity is strongly linked to poverty, unsustainable food production, recurrent climate shocks, high food prices and low household and community resilience.
This country strategic plan marks a shift in WFP’s approach in Côte d’Ivoire, with stronger emphasis on capacity strengthening with a view to shifting WFP-led programmes to government and community ownership. At the core of this strategic approach is the sustainability of the national school meals programme, in which WFP assists 613 schools, or 10 percent of the schools covered by the programme, as a platform for promoting education, nutrition and gender equality and stimulating local food production and rural economies. The country strategic plan constitutes of an opportunity for the Government to support women smallholder farmers in a holistic way and to diversify food consumption by introducing policies to reduce post-harvest losses and promote sustainable access to markets. This will lay the foundations for a more robust economy that is less reliant on imports, offers better livelihood options for vulnerable populations and fosters resilient and sustainable national food systems.
WFP’s assistance to the Government in achieving food and nutrition security will be based on five mutually reinforcing strategic outcomes:
- Strategic outcome 1: Primary-school-age children and their households in food-insecure areas have access to adequate and nutritious food all year
- Strategic outcome 2: Populations affected by shocks have access to food to cover their basic food and nutritional needs during and in the aftermath of shocks
- Strategic outcome 3: Vulnerable food-insecure populations in targeted areas – in particular children, women of child-bearing age and people living with HIV – have improved nutritional status by 2023
- Strategic outcome 4: Targeted populations and communities have stronger livelihoods, are more resilient to climate and other shocks and benefit from more efficient and equitable value chains and sustainable food systems by 2023
- Strategic outcome 5: National institutions have strengthened capacity to better target and manage food security, nutrition and social protection programmes by 2023
WFP’s strategic direction for the next five years will prioritize nutrition programmes by strengthening national capacities to deliver community-focused initiatives. The school meals programme provides a solid base for improving household and community resilience and women’s empowerment through support for smallholder farmers’ networks. Capacity strengthening will be extended to a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that smallholders, especially women, participate in more structured and equitable value chains and have market access support – including through the school meals programme – to link them to stable demand. WFP will support national crisis response, maintaining contingency plans for addressing the immediate food and nutrition needs of populations affected by sudden shocks.
The Country Strategic Plan emphasizes gender equality, young people and people living with disabilities. National capacities to generate evidence will be enhanced to enable the identification of scalable solutions to hunger and malnutrition that acknowledge the specific and various challenges faced by vulnerable people as a result of their gender, age, geographic location and economic circumstances.
The Country Strategic Plan is fully aligned with the national development plan for 2016–2020 and the United Nations development assistance framework for 2017–2020. It seeks to harness the comparative advantages of the various United Nations agencies operating in Côte d’Ivoire to provide a holistic response to food security and nutrition needs. This document was developed through a participatory approach and in close collaboration with Ivorian stakeholders and the other Rome-based agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Collaboration among the Rome-based agencies will focus on enhancing the implementation of the 2016–2020 national multisectoral nutrition plan, facilitating access to education and nutritious food and equitably improving the production and livelihoods of smallholders through joint action plans.