Togo Limited Emergency Operations (July - December 2020)

LEO approved by the RD in June 2020.

Notwithstanding long-term positive trends, Togo continues to face internal and external challenges that constrain its capacity to achieve sustainable food and nutrition security.

With a per capita gross domestic product of USD 679 in 2018, Togo is classified as both a Least Developed Country (LCD) and Low-Income Food Deficit Country (LIFDC).  Despite reducing poverty and chronic malnutrition over the last five years, Togo suffers from a level of hunger classified as ‘serious’, ranking 81st of 117 countries in the 2019 Global Hunger Index.

In Togo food and nutrition security is restrained by poverty, population growth, land and environmental degradation, and gender inequalities in accessing resources. Limited access to nutritious food is intensified by a lack of reliable information on agricultural markets, cyclical climate shocks, and now the economic impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

These barriers are further compounded by the volatile security situation in the Sahel Region, affecting northern Togo with the possibility of an influx of refugees.

Togo’s National Development Plan 2018–2022 (PND) serves as the primary government framework for integrated, equitable and inclusive development. It’s three pillars, or “Axis”, are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and rank all five targets of SDG 2, Zero Hunger, as national priorities.

Following requests from the Togolese Government in May 2020 for assistance to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, WFP is to implement a six-month Limited Emergency Operation (LEO), embedded in the Humanitarian Response Plan, as part of the United Nations’ pandemic response in Togo. The LEO transitions to this interim country strategic plan (ICSP), maintaining the crisis response according to needs while laying out a one-year strategy to help Togo (1) better coordinate national efforts on hunger and nutrition, (2) reduce vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition in recognition of gender and age, and (3) design a resilience agenda in the wake of the covid-19 crisis as a precursor to a successive CSP from 2022.

The ICSP is aligned to the three axis of the PND and to priorities one, two and three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework [UNSDCF] (2019-2023).

Informed by findings from the National Zero Hunger Strategic Review (ZHSR), WFP’s experience in promoting sustainable food systems in Togo, and consultations with key international, national and local partners, the ICSP is in line with WFP’s strategic plan (2017–2021) and contributes to WFP strategic results 1, 4 and 8.

The ICSP will support national capacity to respond to crises, and place affected populations sustainably onto a resilience path towards food and nutrition security, through the delivery of three Strategic Outcomes (SO):

• SO1: Crisis-affected populations in targeted areas are able to meet their basic food and nutrition needs during and in the aftermath of a crisis.
• SO2: Targeted communities in Togo, including smallholder farmers, have efficient, equitable, inclusive and nutritious food systems; and
• SO3: Humanitarian and development partners in Togo have access to common services throughout the crisis.

Through the ICSP, WFP will act as an enabler of the government and partners and contribute to expanding capabilities of and coordination among national institutions and actors on emergency preparedness and response (EPR) to build pathways to resilience.

The central focus of the ICSP is to provide institutional support to the Government of Togo in food and nutrition security and EPR while also reinforcing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Within its social protection plans, the Government has prioritized school feeding as an important safety net. Today, the national school feeding programme, Project de Développement Communautaire (Community Development Project PDC) reaches 90,000 primary school children in 304 schools out of 6,380 schools nationwide. WFP will support the government to maintain and strengthen the SF programme’s linkages to smallholder farmers, in the aftermath of the impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on schools in Togo.

Although properly focused on SDG2 and SDG17, the ICSP also makes contributions to SDG1 (poverty), SDG3 (health), SDG4 (education), and SDG5 (gender equality and women’s empowerment).