GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala--The United Nations (UN) food relief agency has committed to assisting 1.6 million people grappling with the effects of drought exacerbated by El Niño in Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The agency has also pledged to assist with building resilience against future climatic shocks.
World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Ertharin Cousin said that the agency planned to scale up to help the most vulnerable in the four countries through August.
“At the same time, working closely with governments, we are placing resilience at the heart of our longer response,” she said in Guatemala, at the end of visits to that country and El Salvador to see the impact of El Niño, one of the strongest in the last half-century.
“We must work to ensure vulnerable people are not repeatedly pushed deeper into hunger and can build longer-lasting assets that will survive potential disasters.
“Overall WFP is committed to helping people build a world with Zero Hunger. A key to this global goal being achieved in Central America and elsewhere is that communities are able to better adapt, ensuring they are more prepared for climatic shocks and can recover faster,” she added.
Drought victims benefit from programmes that deliver cash, cash-based vouchers and mobile transfers in El Salvador and Guatemala to obtain food, including more diversified and fresh produce, while building local economies.
Additionally, WFP and its partners provide nutrition training as well as support for reforestation, irrigation and community gardens.
The WFP executive director visited communities in the drought-prone “Dry Corridor” where she held discussions with locals about overcoming the impact of the long dry period.
More than 2 million people in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are food insecure, according to assessments by WFP and governments. Most are subsistence farmers living and working in the Dry Corridor.
The UN agency is concerned that from March to April, small farmers in Central America may have to drain their cash and food reserves to obtain seeds and other inputs for the first crop cycle of 2016.
This week, Cousin will visit Haiti to meet vulnerable communities struggling with the impact of El Niño.
About 3.6 million people are reportedly food insecure in the impoverished Caribbean country after three years of severe drought.
WFP initially responded with food distributions for a two-month period to 120,000 people, but now plans to launch an emergency operation to assist 1 million people, primarily by cash transfers. Further nutrition interventions are planned to prevent a rise in acute malnutrition.
The agency needs US $100 million to assist 1.6 million victims of drought through August in Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. ~ Caribbean360 ~
