PL-480 Title II program, Costa Rica

480 Title II program in Costa Rica. Final PES covers the period 1975-1979 and summarizes an attached special evaluation (XD-AAS-001-A) based on document review, site visits, and interviews with CARE and Government of Costa Rica (GOCR) personnel. The Title II program provided food assistance to GOCR"s primary school, pre-school, maternal feeding, and other child feeding programs, with GOCR agencies having had primary responsibility for program supervision and implementation. In general, CARE accounted properly for the arrival, storage, and internal distribution of Title II commodities, although during the last few years, the PVO"s inspection and monitoring of food redistribution at the feeding center level was inadequate. Due to poor planning, needed adjustments to the program - based on new knowledge and/or circumstances - were never made. For example, Title II foods, which were high in protein but low in caloric value, were not nutritionally optimal for balancing the program diets they supplemented. Also, the primary beneficiaries were elementary school children (90%), while preschool children and pregnant and lactating mothers accounted for another 8.5% of beneficiaries. Thus, the children most nutritionally at risk (those aged 0-3) were not effectively reached. However, Title II inputs to primary school feeding programs may have "freed up" GOCR resources for a take home food program, some benefits of which do reach the 0-3 age group. Despite these shortcomings, it appears that Title II aid helped to alleviate malnutrition, even among the youngest children. Initial findings from a 1978 National Nutrition Survey, when compared to results from 1975 survey, indicate a nationwide reduction in the percentage of malnourished children aged 0-4 from 53.6% to 43.5% (using weight for age measurements) as well as a 55% decrease in 3rd degree malnutrition and a 30% decrease in 2nd degree malnutrition. Moreover, the program was successful in contributing to the establishment of child feeding programs, especially school feeding programs, as a permanent institution to be supported by indigenous resources.