Sao Tome and Principe country strategic plan (2024–2028)

CSP approved at EB November 2023 session

Sao Tome and Principe is a small island developing state off the coast of central Africa with a population of 225,000 people. It is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and faces development challenges stemming from structural vulnerabilities such as its geographic isolation, the small size of the national market, and dependence on imports, which affect its capacity to manage environmental and economic shocks.

Despite relatively stable economic growth and progress in education and health services and in nutrition indicators, Sao Tome and Principe is highly reliant on external development assistance and still faces persistently high levels of poverty and growing inequalities, including gender-based inequalities.

Private sector investments are limited and an inadequate electricity supply constrains economic activity. Employment is mainly informal, comprised largely of work in agriculture, fisheries and small-scale commerce.

The social protection system is nascent in Sao Tome and Principe and its coverage is limited. The national school feeding and health programme (Programa nacional de alimentação e saúde escolar) is the largest safety net in the country, reaching 25 percent of the population, and the World Bank has expanded the support that it provides through the Government in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Building on the achievements of the country strategic plan for 2019–2024, WFP is committed to continuing to support the Government in addressing nutrition and food security challenges, within the framework of the national plan for sustainable development for 2020–2024.

WFP will continue to strengthen the national school feeding and health programme, improve evidence generation for a better understanding of the operational context and the impact of its interventions and foster partnerships and cross-sectoral collaboration in the areas of health, nutrition, agriculture, renewable energy and climate change.

The approach followed will be integrated, gender-transformative and inclusive and will ensure that school feeding in Sao Tome and Principe contributes increasingly to human capital, local economies and sustainable development.

To complement the integrated approach to school feeding and reinforce its impact, WFP will leverage its global expertise in emergency preparedness and early warning and expand the scope of its institutional support for the Government in anticipating and preparing for the effects of climate change and strengthening the resilience of national systems and communities.

The contingency crisis response outcome, which was initially developed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, will remain a pillar under the new strategy.

In line with the Government’s Vision 2030 and the United Nations sustainable development cooperation framework for 2024–2028, this country strategic plan supports progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17 through two interrelated outcomes:

➢ Outcome 1: Crisis-affected populations in Sao Tome and Principe are able to meet their food and other essential needs, before, during and in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters. ➢ Outcome 2: By 2030, the Government has strengthened capacity to deliver a sustainable school feeding programme as part of strengthened social protection and resilient food systems.