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Togo

WFP Togo Country Brief, June 2019

Attachments

In Numbers

US$ 0.3 m six months (July-Dec 2019) net funding requirements

Operational Updates

Government partnership and resources mobilization

• Over the past years, WFP in Togo has faced a serious lack of funding that prevented the country office to continue playing a central role in strengthening the capacities of the Togolese development actors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in particular SDG 2 ‘Zero Hunger’.

• To overcome these constraints, the country office, supported by WFP Regional Bureau in Dakar, multiplied strategies and actions to sensitise the Government of Togo.

• During the months of May and June, the WFP West Africa Regional Director, his deputy and the Country Director for Benin and Togo met with the Togolese Minister of Agriculture, other top government officials and the UN Resident Coordinator in Togo to advocate for the government’s financial contribution of USD 2.5 million to the Country Strategic Plan 2019-2023.

• In parallel, the Deputy Country Director of Togo together with the WFP donor relations officer organised in May a series of visits with Ghana-based foreign Embassies responsible for Togo. Following meetings in Accra with the Office of Agricultural Affairs (USDA) of the United States Embassy, and with the Embassy of Switzerland, WFP submitted a funding proposal to the Swiss representation in Lomé.

• The project’s objectives include support to the local communities to adapt to climate shocks, the empowerment of women and smallholder farmers, as well as the development of sustainable local food supplies to school canteens.

Decentralized evaluation of the Project ‘Dev 200304’: Community-based School Feeding Programme in Togo

• Through the Development Project “Dev200304”, WFP supports the Government of Togo since May 2012, with the development of a home-grown school feeding (HGSF) programme based on local food production and integrated services, such as nutritional education, water and sanitation and school gardens.

• To capitalise on experiences, good practices and lessons learnt from this capacity-strengthening project, the country office hired the services of an external evaluation firm, to conduct a decentralized evaluation. The second draft of the evaluation report has been submitted in June to the Togolese Government technical teams for their inputs.

School feeding - Field monitoring mission by WFP Center of Excellence in Brazil

• School feeding in Togo is provided in 304 public primary schools throughout the country, reaching about 91,000 children. The programme is implemented by the Social Nets Project, co-financed by the World Bank and the Government of the country, with WFP Togo in charge of providing capacity-strengthening and technical support.

• Since November 2018, ANADEB - the national agency responsible for the implementation of school canteens - has launched a new approach to school feeding based on participatory community approach. The new model is being implemented in 10 new pilot schools in the country.

• Between November 2018 and February 2019 when the school canteen was launched, the social mediators of ANADEB, supported by WFP, conducted training sessions for the School Parents’ Committee about the organization of contributions, food purchases and the preparation of meals.

• A mission from the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil took place from 12 to 18 March 2019 with the objective of supporting the Government of Togo's initiative to develop a model of schools of excellence that promotes quality school feeding based on local products.

• WFP technical officers visited the Amalaklé Public Primary School, that provides school meals three days per week to 112 children. The identification of the pilot school was made following a request introduced by the community to set up a school canteen.

• The community in-kind contributions (in beans and maize), which correspond to 5 percent of the value for the whole school year, were made at the beginning of the project.

• The rest of the necessary food items are purchased at the local market; ANADEB makes a weekly cash transfer for the purchase of local food to the Management Committee of the School Canteen.

• Meals are prepared by teams of voluntary mothers.
The choice of menus, discussed at the inception of the programme, favors local foods and preparations.

• Overall, the visit made it possible to observe the relevance of the community approach for a probable expansion to other schools in Togo.