Evaluation of the WFP Country Strategic Plan 2019-2023 in Mauritania Mauritania

Context of the service

Mauritania is a Sahel-Saharan country with a population of 4.6 million people concentrated in the south. Since 2000, it has recorded a steady decline in poverty. However, the low population density and the size of the territory pose major challenges in ensuring the population's access to social services.

There is a structural trend towards food and nutrition insecurity in Mauritania. Agricultural production is low and covers only about 30% of the country's annual food needs due to land degradation, declining yields and successive droughts.

WFP's 2019-2023 Country Strategic Plan (CSP) prioritized strengthening the government's institutional capacity, in support of its adaptive social protection system. The SPP was initiating a strategic change in WFP by basing its activities on the principle of integrated resilience at the community and household levels through the "resilience sites".

Services provided

- In-depth document review, development of the evaluation methodology and preparation of a detailed scoping report;

- Nationwide data collection, including direct observation of achievements, household survey, interviews with beneficiaries (including refugee populations and host communities) and other key programme actors: WFP national and field offices, national institutions and their decentralized services, local NGOs, etc.

- Evaluation of the various components of the strategic plan: food and nutrition assistance to refugee populations, support for the deployment of the national social protection system, integrated resilience, etc. and taking into account considerations related to gender, equity and WFP's inclusion goals;

- Sessions to present the results and then a workshop to validate the conclusions and recommendations;

- Drafting of an evaluation report including strategic and operational recommendations.

Summary of the service

Evaluation of WFP's 2019-2023 Country Strategic Plan in Mauritania, covering its implementation until mid-2021 and including the following components: food and nutrition assistance to refugee populations; support for the deployment of the national social protection system; built-in resilience; institutional capacity-building. Evaluation focused on WFP's strategic positioning, effectiveness of implementation and factors explaining its performance. Recommendations for the formulation of the next strategic plan.