Central America advances in addressing social protection for climate action and food security and nutrition
FAO continues to support the Central American Integration System (SICA) in its efforts to end hunger, poverty and promote economic inclusion in the context of climate change.
Social protection is essential for more inclusive climate action while ensuring food and nutritional security, said the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at a workshop jointly organized with the Secretariat for Central American Social Integration (SISCA), the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain) and the Republic of Korea.
In the workshop, held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on May 22, participants emphasized the need to extend social protection in Central America, where most countries, except Costa Rica, have less than 50% coverage.
Benjamin Davis, FAO Director of the Division of Rural Transformation and Gender Equity, highlighted that social protection enhances resilience and adaptation to climate change by improving the ability to cope with crises and shocks. It also facilitates the adoption of climate-adapted agricultural practices and technologies, enables livelihood diversification, and supports natural resource management and ecosystem restoration.
Israel Rios, FAO Food and Nutrition Security Officer, emphasized the crucial role of school feeding as a public policy to tackle food security, reduce school dropout rates, and promote local market development by including small producers in local value chains.
Xabier Garay, FAO Disaster Risk Reduction Expert for Mesoamerica, stressed the importance of strengthening synergies between social protection, anticipatory action and early warning in food security.
Gala Dahlet, FAO Social Policy Officer, underlined the need to enhance coherence between social protection and climate actions and to embed social protection in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Technical representatives of the Council for Central American Social Integration shared their best practices and challenges in integrating social protection systems with climate change and food security agendas. In particular, Honduras presented the experience of the National School Feeding Program.
This dialogue aimed to provide input for developing a work plan and a clear roadmap of regional activities, promoting and strengthening comprehensive social protection programs, and defining mechanisms to enhance food and nutritional security and climate change resilience.
This approach aligns with the implementation of the Comprehensive Regional Social Policy of the Central American Integration System and the Food and Nutritional Security Policy for Central America and Dominican Republic.