Crisis Prevention and Recovery

Food crisis: UNDP requests USD 2.3 million as part the Guatemala Appeal

5 March 2010 - The six-month Guatemala Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Appeal was launched today by OCHA in Geneva, Switzerland. Guatemala is currently in the grip of a protracted food insecurity crisis, which has particularly affected the approximately 2.7 million people living in the country’s so-called Dry Corridor (and neighbouring departments). Due to lower yields of basic grain crops, household food reserves have been reduced or depleted sooner than normal. As part of this Appeal, UNDP is requesting USD 2.3 million to immediately assist food-insecure communities. UNDP will work with the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security to conduct a community food security analysis and identify thresholds of food insecurity. Emergency scenarios will be developed. Labor-intensive projects will be undertaken, focusing on road improvements and basic sanitation works. The goal is to stabilize the livelihoods of 8,000 families and increase the income of 25 communities in the most affected areas of the country.