Cuba Country Programme (2015-2018)

This operation has been modified as per budget revsion 1 (see below)

Cuba has largely eradicated hunger and poverty through comprehensive social protection programmes, but the high costs of these programmes are unsustainable. Its economic model is being updated to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase sustainability, guided by the principle that no Cuban will be left unprotected. 

In line with WFP’s Strategic Plan 2014–2017, this country programme emphasizes capacity development and augmentation using targeted transfers to meet food and nutrition needs and to strengthen food-related social safety nets. It will support national and local authorities in shifting to more sustainable and targeted social protection systems. Its three linked components are aligned with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework: i) support food security and nutrition-related social protection programmes; ii) strengthen links between social protection systems and agricultural value chains; and iii) strengthen community resilience, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation capacities at the local level.

Gender equality is a cross-cutting theme; components take into account the different opportunities and challenges facing women and men, and the different needs of girls, boys, young people and the elderly as essential players in development processes.

Over the last eight years, climate hazards, particularly tropical storms, hurricanes, heavy rainfall and droughts, have caused more than USD 20 billion in losses, with significant impacts on the economy and food security. Generally poor dietary diversity – which has declined with changes in the subsidized food basket – combined with poor dietary practices has resulted in high rates of anaemia and other micronutrient deficiencies.

Lessons learned through previous projects in Cuba highlighted the need for capacity development at the municipal level, improved use of monitoring information at the local and national levels, and strengthened supply chains for specialized products.

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Budget revision 1 of the Cuba CP 200703 is intended to: increase support to food-based safety net programmes through the inclusion of a new commodity – dried skimmed milk - to be distributed through the same social protection programmes already included in the CP supporting children, pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and  the elderly through government institutions; extend programme to the municipality of Old Havana due to the priority given by Government of Cuba to these social programmes in that municipality and based on the high levels of vulnerability; include capacity development and augmentation activities to increase and stabilize the local production of fortified blended food in the Bayamo Plant.