Timor-Leste

The Government of Timor-Leste is firmly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which it was a staunch supporter during negotiations. However, serious obstacles to the achievement of SDG 2 on Zero Hunger and improved nutrition remain. 

The proportion of hungry poor was reduced from 46.9 percent to 34.3 percent over the past decade. However, the 2017 Global Hunger Index still rates hunger levels in the country as ‘serious’. People’s ability to eat sufficient nutritious food is limited by poverty – with 41.8 percent of the population living on less than US$ 1.54 a day – difficult access to markets, low agricultural productivity and exposure to climate change.

Malnutrition levels remain worryingly high, with stunting affecting 53 percent of boys and 47 percent of girls, and wasting affecting 13 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls. Anaemia is also highly prevalent among women and children. 39 percent of non-pregnant women are anaemic and rates exceed 62 percent for children under 5, with a peak at 90 percent in children aged between 6 and 11 months. Cultural practices result in very low food diversity among young children, who are mostly fed plain rice porridge. It is estimated that undernutrition costs the country US$ 41 million a year – between 1 and 2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – in lost productivity, poor work performance and increased health costs.

WFP works in close collaboration and coordination with the Government of Timor-Leste, with a view to strengthening its capacities for delivering social safety programmes, and with other partners including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).