Mesoamerica Hunger Free Programme

More Effective Institutional Frameworks to Improve Family Farming, Food and Nutritional Security

Mesoamerica Hunger Free is a South-South and triangular cooperation programme that started in 2015 as the result of a collaboration agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) under the former administration of Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto. Mexico committed to fund the programme’s activities in the amount of USD 15 million over a five-year period. The initiative serves to achieve SDG 1 (End poverty), SDG 2 (Zero hunger), and SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in nine Mesoamerican countries (Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) by providing support to strengthen policies and institutional frameworks to improve food and nutritional security and family farming practices in the region.

The programme envisages actions at the national and local levels, as well as within Mesoamerica (among two or more countries). Moreover, Mesoamerica Hunger Free facilitates ad hoc South-South exchange activities between Mexican institutions and entities from the other Mesoamerican countries. The purpose is to share experiences and cooperate in strengthening relevant capacities through mechanisms such as technical missions, training sessions and forums for dialogue.

Mesoamerica Hunger Free has national management committees in each country. They identify priorities in agreement with Mexican representatives, FAO, national and local authorities, and community representatives. In addition, every six months, AMEXCID and FAO hold a joint commission to provide strategic follow-up to programme implementation. The following achievements stand out among the main achievements of Mesoamerica Hunger Free:

• Technical advice was provided to define, characterize and register family farmers (Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama);
• Sustainable seed systems oriented to family farming in Nicaragua were promoted;
• The world’s first model law on small-scale fisheries and the model law on family farming, both approved by the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), were developed;
• Fruit and vegetable production in protected environments were supported in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic;
• Indigenous handicrafts in Guatemala were designed and marketed;
• Rainwater harvesting systems were set up for human consumption in Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama;
• School feeding programmes and pedagogical gardens were promoted in Belize;
• Knowledge networks were set up in the region to strengthen the capacities of relevant groups, including parliamentary advisers, journalists and experts in rainwater harvesting systems, among others;
• Municipal extension programmes for family farming in El Salvador and Honduras were implemented; and,
• The capacities of national and local institutions and organizations were built to provide technical assistance in the countries where the programme operates.

These results have been possible due to a high level of local ownership and, mainly, to the involvement of national authorities and communities in the annual identification of challenges and priorities to strengthen food and nutritional security and family farming in each of the countries where Mesoamerica Hunger Free works. Given the success of Mesoamerica Hunger Free, Mexican authorities and FAO have already envisioned a second phase for the programme.