Goal

Haiti is committed to generalizing the consideration of nutrition in policies and strategic development plans as a lever for economic and social development by 2025.

FROM Commitment: Reduction of malnutrition prevalence

Government / Haiti

Ministry of Health and Population

Partner organisations:
Private sector non-food business: Fonkoze, partners in Health, Meds and Food for Kids
Civil society organisation (CSO) or non-governmental organisation (NGO): AAH, AVSI, MDM-C, MDM-S, CWW, Partners of the America, STC, MSF
Country government at any administrative level: Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Social Affairs, Planning,
Multilateral organisations, including United Nations (UN) agencies: UNICEF, WFP, WHO, FAO
Private sector food business: Moulins d'Haiti, Les Cereales d'Haiti, Carribex, HUASA, Iodised Salt Factory, Carribean Millingry,
Date made: 02 Dec 2021
Related event: 2021 Tokyo N4G Summit | 2021 UN Food Systems Summit
Verification status Find out more
NAF SMARTness index Low Find out more
Targeted location National - Coverage for the management of severe acute (SAM) and moderate (MAM) malnutrition remains limited. It is carried out at the level of 715 out of 1007 structures including 34 Nutritional Stabilization Units (USN), 386 Outpatient Therapeutic Program (PTA) and 295 …
Targeted population Overall population (all ages, both sexes)
Population coverage 300,000.0
Primary indicator Number of children treated for malnutrition
Primary indicator baseline 6%
Primary indicator target 50%
Duration October, 2022 - September, 2030

Goal action plan

The Republic of Haiti, due to its geographical position, is exposed to climatic hazards that affect its agricultural production, and the resulting food insecurity represents one of the major determinants of a poor nutritional situation. Acute and chronic malnutrition: stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies affect children during the window of opportunity. Thus, malnourished pregnant women give birth to low birth weight children with intrauterine malnutrition affecting their brain development resulting in a vicious intergenerational cycle of poverty in adulthood with a decline in per capita income and gross domestic product.

The satisfactory results obtained with innovative community strategies (mobile PTA, maternal PB), scientific evidence such as the simplified protocol for the management of acute malnutrition and the international guidelines or guidance notes on the management of acute malnutrition in the context of COVID-19 require a revision of the PCMAG Protocol to facilitate a greater increase in coverage, a reduction in the dropout rate and better adherence of beneficiaries.

It should be mentioned that factors such as: inflation (increase of about 29% in the value of the food basket in June 2020), repeated socio-political crises, devaluation of the gourde, reduction of remittances, deterioration of the agricultural situation following the El Niño phenomenon and natural disasters (tropical storm Laura), have largely affected the purchasing power of the poorest households and their ability to access food, forcing them to adopt unsustainable livelihood strategies as a result.

According to the Food Security Coordination, the number of food insecure people is increasing almost constantly from 600,000 (in 2013) to more than 1.6 million in 2015 and 4.4 million in October 2019 and 3 million in August 2020, i.e. (43% and 46% of the population analysed) are chronically moderately food insecure (level 3) or chronically severely food insecure (level 4).

All this has led to a deterioration in the nutritional status of the target nutrition groups, justifying the need to have recent data on the nutritional situation of children and women in order to intervene more effectively, weakened by COVID-19 and its collateral effects, especially at the community level where nutrition services have slowed down.

Nutrition Action Classification

Enabling

  • Financial
  • Operational
  • Leadership and governance
  • Research monitoring and data

Policy

  • Food environment
  • Food supply chain
  • Consumer knowledge
  • Nutrition care services

Impact

  • Undernutrition
  • Diet
  • Obesity and diet-related NCDs
  • Food and nutrition security

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