Ecuador

To "leave no one behind", as mandated by the 2030 Development Agenda and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 on ending hunger, it is essential to assist the most vulnerable populations in meeting their basic food and nutrition needs all year long. WFP’s food assistance consists in the provision of vouchers to purchase fresh, nutritious and healthy foods, and is conditional on the attendance of nutrition trainings. To combat malnutrition in children, WFP also focuses on the first 1,000 days from conception to the child’s second birthday, ensuring that pregnant and nursing women have access to, and information on,  the nutrients required for the full development of their babies.

By helping people meet their food needs through voucher programmes, WFP enables smallholder farmers - 64 percent of the agricultural population - to increase their incomes by improving productivity, diversifying food production and accessing formal markets.

Since WFP first started in the country in 1964, its role has changed considerably, from the delivery of programmes (such as school meals), to an increasingly advisory role, providing the Government of Ecuador with technical and policy support in its fields of expertise. WFP’s work is aligned with national priorities, and aims to build synergies with the Government’s social protection safety nets. An example of this was seen in the response to the 2016 earthquake, when WFP integrated its cash-based assistance into the national safety nets system. This resulted in a considerable reduction in the time spent re-registering beneficiaries and monitoring operations, and strengthened WFP's partnership with the Government.