This project is designed to support the implementation of activities planned under the three components of World Food Program’s 2008-2012 Cooperation Program in Mali. This aims to provide, particularly through the purchase and distribution of cereals, to support rural development activities underway and supported by other technical and financial partners in targeted food insecure regions of Mali, contribute to improving school attendance and nutritional status of students and reduce acute malnutrition rate of target populations (children under five and pregnant and lactating women).
The expecteds intermediate outcomes for this project include: (i) women and men have greater, sustainable, and equitable food security in vulnerable regions; (ii) food security is improved for primary school pupils, who receive school feeding funded by the national school feeding program; and (iii) malnourished children under five improve their nutritional status.
Results achieved as of March 31, 2015, include the following: the percentage of households with poor and limited food consumption dropped from 34.4% in 2013–2014 to 28.8 % in 2014–2015 in the Timbuktu, Mopti and Koulikoro regions; 597,200 people (at least 50.5 % being women and girls) had access to food products (notably as a result of the distribution of 15,622 tonnes of provisions, including 1,000 tonnes of paddy rice); 120 training workshops helped targeted populations and rural organizations to improve their management of the production infrastructure created by the project; 50 new school feeding programs were implemented, improving the food situation of 9,138 students (at least 50% being girls); 1,584 pregnant and nursing women attended nutrition education sessions, thereby improving their knowledge of the use of nutritional supplements for their children; 1,736 members of women’s associations improved their knowledge of malnutrition screening, leading to a higher number of identified cases being admitted to health centres; and 20,725 people benefited from the transfer of funds totalling $747,137 in connection with their participation in sanitation and environment conservation endeavours. These results are improving people’s capacity to address food insecurity through the creation of agricultural production infrastructure.