WFP Pushing for Poverty Relief in Togo
Togo, also known as the Togolese Republic, is the smallest country in Africa and home to roughly 8.8 million people. The Togo economy is mainly reliant on commercial subsistence agriculture as it is 60% of the labor force. COVID-19 has destroyed Togo’s well being and economy. In the Savanes region of Togo, 32% of the population are battling crisis or emergency level food insecurity. Furthermore, 23.8% of children from ages 6 to 59 months are at risk of chronic malnutrition. The surrounding landlocked countries struggling with the same issues as Togo, receive the aid they need from the Port of Lome in Togo. The Port of Lome acts as the center of control for the distribution of resources for the landlocked countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. The World Food Programme’s (WFP) initiatives broadened to other activities such as poverty relief in Togo after pairing with the African CDC to distribute COVID-19 vaccines.
WFP Provides Poverty Relief in Togo
Out of 71,991 total beneficiaries, 33,392 are male and female, from ages 5-11 years old. WFP has not given up on the nation of Togo. There is still room for improvement in WFP’s poverty relief initiative, including but not limited to cash-based transfers, asset creation and livelihood, additional resource transfers and overall beneficiaries over the age of 12. The cash-based transfers are meant to directly affect the pockets of impoverished Togo residents as well as refugees residing in the nation. In addition to the projects that the World Bank financed, with the age group of 5-11 years seeing the most beneficiaries, age groups more than 12 years old are receiving less than 45% of the expected amount.
The latest report from the World Food Programme, published May 13, 2024, displays WFP’s progress in the poverty relief of the Togolese Republic. WFP has distributed a total of 77,554 school meals, reaching 14,207 children in 50 different schools supported by WFP in northern Togo. The World Food Programme is also appealing to the United Nations for a sum of $12.5 million in order to reach more beneficiaries in Togo. WFP, along with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are aiming to assist vulnerable parts of Togo damaged by flooding in the Northern region with 185.5 metric tons of food. Furthermore, a warehouse has been established in Kara to support the humanitarian operations in the Northern Region of Togo. However, there has been some struggle in WFP’s efforts to rehabilitate Togo’s infrastructure.
Rainfall
Food security has deteriorated in 2024 due to the Sahel crisis, the inflation of food and agricultural impacts due to the Ukrainian crisis and the extreme climate crisis occurring in Northern Togo. There has been a steady decrease in rainfall in West African countries. This disproportionately affects the population since the economy is heavily reliant on agriculture. Several studies have reported that on average in a 30 year scale (1968-1997) rainfall was 15%-40% lower than the earlier 30 year margin (1931-1960).
Looking Ahead
WFP has made immense progress in bolstering fiscal policy and debt management, business employment opportunities, the energy and digital sector, as well as agricultural productivity, health resources and food security. The budget that WFP provided to Togo and donations are financing these efforts. Donors to WFP’s efforts include the European Commission, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Togo, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and more.
The European Commission is supporting poverty relief in Togo not just by donating to WFP, but through the Togolese government in the “Togo 25” roadmap for a total of 145 million euros to Togo. The strengthening of the internal infrastructure of Togo has led to immense social, political and economic growth in the struggling nation. These efforts have received support not just from the World Food Programme, but also from several other organizations and countries, pushing for humanitarian relief in the Togolese Republic.
– Petralyn Yeboah-Manson
Petralyn is based in New Jersey, USA and focuses on World News for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Flickr
