Guatemala: Alliances to improve the situation of Children, Food security and Nutrition
JOINT PROGRAMME QUICK FACTS
Total Budget $7,500,000
Delivery Rate
Main Achievements
- Students at 44 schools have school gardens and training, and supplies acquisition is underway so that the schools can receive "Healthy Schools" certification.
- Evaluation of the nutritional status of a statistically representative sample of children under the age of 5.
- Evaluation of the system for the epidemiological monitoring of malnutrition in the Totonicapán healthcare region.
Guatemala has the highest prevalence of stunting of children under 5 in Latin America, ranking fourth worldwide, and its national undernutrition rate is the highest in Latin America. The proposed programme has the following aims: At the rural and indigenous community levels, to improve production of foods for consumption at the household level and for sale, to improve feeding behaviours, to promote healthy environments and to contribute gender equity.
At the municipal level, the programme aims to increase the demand of health and nutrition services and improve its provision. At the national level, the programme aims to strengthen institutional coordination. This will entail coordinating and harmonizing the involved actors; developing strategies to improve the quality of health services and improvement of food practices for consumption at the household level, considering children as a priority; repositioning the use of traditional local foods in light of food price increase and climate change; facilitating the capitalization of economic incentives; linking small producers to social government programmes as an alternative market and establishing the Food and Nutrition Security Early Warning Observatory.