ADB and WFP partner on landmark food security assessment in Timor-Leste
Dili, – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have signed an agreement to contribute to conducting Timor-Leste’s most extensive food security focused assessment to date, funded under the bank’s Economic Diagnostic Studies in Asia and the Pacific initiative.
The project’s research initiatives will cover over 9,000 households, providing the government of Timor-Leste with critical data needed to address concerning rates of food insecurity. WFP will provide the government with technical support to conduct the food security focused assessments at this scale – the biggest ever carried out in the country.
ADB Country Director Timor-Leste, Stefania Dina, said “We are happy to partner with the government and WFP for this important undertaking. Timor-Leste still experiences some of the highest rates of undernutrition in the world. It is crucial to address the issue of food insecurity to ensure that the population has access to sufficient and nutritious food.”
The assessment will establish an in-depth analysis of the food insecurity levels of people across all fourteen municipalities, and at the national level. It will also determine household food consumption patterns, what type of food families are eating, and the primary coping strategies that families are adopting in response to recent spikes in food costs and climate shocks over the last year.
Alba Cecilia Garzon Olivares, WFP Country Director and Representative in Timor-Leste, emphasized the project's significance: “These assessments are not just about numbers; it’s about providing vital and timely data to inform the Government of Timor-Leste’s decision-making on emergency food preparedness, resource allocation, and social protection interventions."
The findings will also feed into a planned 2023/24 Acute IPC Food Insecurity classification and will be used to determine if the number of food insecure people has increased since the last 2022/23 IPC analysis conducted in November 2022. The new IPC results will be published in early 2024.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impact of climate change.