Guinea-Bissau
- 69%
- of people live below the poverty line
- 25%
- of people suffer from chronic malnutrition
- 1.8 million
- population
Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by political instability since it became independent in 1974, resulting in a lack of development and high levels of poverty.
Nearly 70 percent live below the poverty line, with high infant and maternal mortality rates and a countrywide chronic malnutrition rate of over 25 percent. Almost 85 percent of the population depend on agriculture as their main source of income, and cashew nuts are the primary crop. Overall, 11 percent of Guinea-Bissau households are food insecure, though this figure can be as high as 51 percent in some areas.
Chronic food insecurity is compounded by political instability, irregular rainfall and volatility of prices for both imported rice and local cashew nut production.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Guinea-Bissau
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Nutrition
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WFP works to prevent and reduce malnutrition among children under 5, pregnant and nursing women, providing nutritional support to 96,000 people. WFP also provides food to 6,500 people who are undergoing treatment for HIV or tuberculosis, improving their general health and helping to reduce the side effects of the drugs, as well as to their family members.
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School meals
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WFP provides over 173,000 hot meals to school children, encouraging school enrolment and attendance. Take-home food rations for female students encourage girls to attend and remain in school. WFP is also working to strengthen the Government’s capacity to manage the school meals programme so that it can eventually take ownership of this programme.
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Resilience building
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Working with the Government and local NGOs, WFP helps to protect the livelihoods of vulnerable households and build their resilience to crises that could affect their food security. We work to improve rural communities’ access to basic social services and markets, and 96,000 people benefit from Food for Asset activities that provide food, training and other items in exchange for building community assets, such as infrastructure.
Guinea-Bissau news releases
Go to pagePartners and donors
Find out more about the state of food security in Guinea-Bissau
Visit the food security analysis pageOperations in Guinea-Bissau
Contacts
Office
Praca Titina Sila, Bissau, Guinea Bissau
Bissau
Guinea-Bissau