The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has reached a deal with the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela to provide food to the country’s schoolchildren. Child malnutrition has been on the rise as Venezuela’s once-prosperous economy has gone into freefall and health services have collapsed.

More than 5.3m Venezuelans have fled their home country amid the crisis. The WFP aims to reach 185,000 school children by the end of this year.A study by the World Food Programme published in 2020 suggested that one in three Venezuelans was not able to put enough food on the table to meet minimum nutrition requirements and was “in need of assistance”.The study says that Venezuelans’ lack of dietary diversity was “of major concern” with many families not getting enough meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and fruits.(BBC)…[+]