Use of coping strategies persisting despite increase labor demand

At the national level, despite restrictions to avoid the spread of COVID-19 and the disruptions in transportation, productive and economic activity has been reestablished, which has allowed the gradual recovery of jobs, particularly in the urban area. In rural areas, the season of high demand for labor continues to advance, allowing a temporary improvement in income generation for poor households.

Poor households located in the dry corridor and the highlands of the country, and those affected by storms Eta and Iota in the north of the country, are generating income, but less than usual given the late start of many productive activities, the increase in mobilization costs, the lower number of days of employment, together with the carrying of debts contracted throughout the year for the purchase of maize and beans whose prices have remained above the average.

These households are engaging in negative coping strategies such as atypical migration, increased sales of small animals and productive assets, rapid use of income, and all of this has not allowed them to save for the upcoming lean season. They will continue to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) food security outcomes, while the rest of the country will remain in Stress (IPC Phase 2).

As of January, two months after the impact of the storms Eta and Iota, there are still more than 75,000 people sheltered, the vast majority in unofficial shelters. The humanitarian country team designed the action plan in response for an amount of $ 30,605,000. By December 2020, the food safety sector has $ 3,300,000 out of the required $ 20,000,000; likewise, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Nutrition sectors have collected 9 and 28 percent, respectively, of what is needed.

Several cold fronts are expected between January and February that would mainly affect the highlands of the country, and could have effects on vegetable crops and the health of the poorest families with precarious housing conditions. A normal start of the 2021 rainy season is expected between the months of March and May.