Cuba country strategic plan (2021-2025)

CSP approved at the EB.A/2022 session

Revision 01 approved by the CD in December 2021.

Revision 02 approved by the RD in October 2022.

Revision 03 approved by the RD in September 2023.

Revision 04 approved by the RD in August 2024.

For more than six decades, Cuba has made progress in eradicating poverty and hunger through free and universal access to basic services and social protection programmes. Food security and nutrition are high priorities for the Cuban Government, as outlined in its national plan for economic and social development through 2030.1 People's right to food is enshrined in the new constitution approved in 2019, which also sets the goal of achieving food security for all. However, there are still major food security and nutrition challenges.

This country strategic plan addresses the impacts of extreme hydrometeorological events and climate change on food systems; the high dependence on food imports; the limited access to diverse, good-quality and safe foods; the double burden of malnutrition and the lack of a food security and nutrition monitoring system. These challenges are compounded by the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and remain acknowledged as national priorities.

WFP will support the municipal food self-supply programme, which contributes to reducing food imports; programmes on school feeding, mother-and-child healthcare and care for the elderly; a plan for the prevention and control of anaemia; the Tarea Vida state plan for addressing climate change; and the national plan for food sovereignty and nutrition education.2 The country strategic plan is aligned with the United Nations sustainable development cooperation framework for 2020–2024 in order to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The WFP strategic portfolio comprises four interlinked and complementary strategic outcomes:

➢ Strategic outcome 1: Populations facing multiple hazards maintain access to food during and in the aftermath of disasters.

➢ Strategic outcome 2: Nutritionally vulnerable groups in targeted municipalities have improved nutrition status and more diversified and nutritious diets by 2024.

➢ Strategic outcome 3: Vulnerable groups benefit from local food systems that are more resilient with regard to the impact of climate change and more efficient social safety nets by 2024.

➢ Strategic outcome 4: National and local authorities have strengthened capacities to manage inclusive, comprehensive and adaptive food and nutrition systems by 2024.

In order to achieve these outcomes WFP will focus on increasing the resilience of local food systems to ensure that they can meet demand from social protection programmes, prioritizing the most vulnerable groups;3 enhancing disaster management, preparedness and response capacity; improving knowledge of healthy diets and nutrition; and supporting the national logistics system. WFP plans to scale up innovative activities and modalities based on evidence generated during implementation in areas such as locally sourced school meals for children in rural "external" primary schools;4 cash-based transfers for municipal institutions in charge of education, health and commerce for the purchase of locally produced food; crop monitoring within the early warning system; and microinsurance to improve climate risk management. WFP will act as facilitator while pursuing nutrition-sensitive and gender- and age-equitable outcomes.

This country strategic plan is aligned with the WFP Strategic Plan (2017–2021) and contributes to WFP Strategic Results 1 on access to food, 2 on ending malnutrition, 4 on sustainable food systems, and 5 on capacity strengthening. It will support national efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly goals 2, 5 and 17, in collaboration with national and local authorities, other United Nations agencies (especially the other Rome-based agencies), technical, academic and research institutions and other actors.