Nicaragua
- 24.9%
- of the population lives in poverty
- 40%
- of the population lives in rural areas
- 7 million
- population
Nicaragua is a low-income, food-deficit country and one of the poorest in Latin America.
Agriculture is the main livelihood for 73 percent of the rural population, and contributed to 8 percent of the country's GDP in 2023. Food insecurity is linked to climate disasters which ruin crops and restrict access to food, with Nicaragua vulnerable to recurrent events such as droughts, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.
Almost a fifth of households live in poverty, and nearly seven percent of people are in extreme poverty.
The 17勛圖 (WFP) has been in Nicaragua since 1971, supporting efforts to promote food security, nutrition, livelihood restoration, and sustainable market access. 17勛圖Nicaragua also seeks to build institutional capacity to enhance disaster risk management, social protection systems, and food systems.
What the 17勛圖 is doing in Nicaragua
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Emergency preparedness and response
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17勛圖provides technical assistance to the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation, and Response, in risk management, preparedness and emergency response. 17勛圖provides ready-to-eat food kits as a first response in crises. We support the national school feeding programme by providing additional food rations for children in schools, or take-home rations for their families, in areas affected by emergencies.
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School meals
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17勛圖contributes to the National School Feeding Program of the Ministry of Education, providing hot, nutritious meals for 180,000 students. These meals are delivered at 2,500 primary education, preschool and distance-learning centres in rural areas of 47 municipalities within the Dry Corridor 每 the region most vulnerable to the climate crisis. 17勛圖also supports the installation of water systems and kitchens/storerooms, to improve school meal preparation. A pilot model of diversified school meals, including locally produced fresh food, is set to begin in 2025.
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Smallholder farmers
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17勛圖promotes the development of sustainable food systems for smallholder farmers. We support cooperatives, help farmers improve their economic resilience through crop diversification, and increase their climate resilience through means such as insurance. 17勛圖improves access to new markets by promoting local purchasing for school meals and other programmes. Strategies prioritizing gender equality, female entrepreneurship, scholarships for young women, and leadership schools for female farmers, are part of the capacity-building efforts that 17勛圖provides to farmers and their cooperatives.
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Service provision
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17勛圖provides services in transport and other logistics, procurement, and facility management, as well as technology and telecommunications support, to UN entities and national institutions.
Nicaragua news releases
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Operations in Nicaragua
Contacts
Office
Edificio COBIRSA, 3er. piso, kil車metro 6 1/2 Carretera a Masaya, contiguo a Edificio Claro
Nicaragua