New UN project aims to boost food security in four Central American nations

The United Nations today announced a new regional project that will enable food producers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to boost food security by increasing production and getting produce to markets more rapidly.

The project, launched by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), will involve over 3,500 small- and medium-sized agricultural producers in the four Central American countries.

It is expected to last three and a half years and is made possible thanks to a $5.9 million contribution to FAO from the Government of Italy.

Since 1995, $770 million from donors and national governments have been invested in FAO-designed food security programmes.

The agency hopes that the Central America project, which will involve regional organizations active in the field of agriculture, will help achieve higher levels of food security – defined by FAO as “when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”