According to a recently launched program by the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO), called 100 Territories Free of Poverty and Hunger (100-T), the Dominican Republic is one of the five priority countries in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean where there are strong differences between urban and rural areas and profound inequality in rural areas leading to hunger and poverty.
In the case of the Dominican Republic, the program will be focused along almost all of the frontier area, from Pedernales, Independencia, Elías Piña down to Bahoruco, then Azua, Barahona and El Seibo.
The other four priority countries are El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras.
The FAO will offer technical support and look for ways to improve public policies over a ten-year timeframe and identify the most vulnerable areas with the most poverty and hungry.
According to the FAO, despite advances in and growth of economies, there are rural areas with levels of poverty and extreme poverty of around 70% and an unacceptable level of chronic malnutrition, well below the national average.
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Listin Diario
14 May 2019