Windhoek
Five teams of professional researchers yesterday gathered in Windhoek for a one-day Zero Hunger Strategic Review inception workshop on food and nutrition security in Namibia.
The review was intended to help researchers understand why the high levels of government commitment and efforts are not fully reflected in improvements to food and nutrition security across the country.
Each of the experts dealt with specific areas of their expertise on topics such as sustainable food availability, food utilisation and nutrition, equitable access to food, food losses and wastage and sustainable food systems.
Although government has committed to reach the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce poverty – with the MDGs deadline at the end of this month – a lot has been achieved as poverty rates have declined by 11 percent from 2001 to 2011.
The Permanent Secretary of the National Planning Commission in the Presidency, Andries Leevi-Hungamo, stated that despite the positive achievements on the one hand, there is the prevalence of food insecurity and undernourishment that continues to rise, on the other.
A report in 2015 released by the UN shows 42.3 percent of Namibians were undernourished in 2014 compared to 27.3 percent in 2002.
“These statistics are worrisome as the war on poverty cannot be won if the majority of our population is still hungry. The review we plan to undertake will also help us as a country to prepare for the post-2015 development agenda, which will bring new sustainable development goals (SDGs) which are about ending hunger, achieving food security, improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture,” he said.
He said Namibia would soon embark on preparing the fifth National Development Plan (NDP5) and the process will review NDP4.
“The strategic review of the food and nutrution security in Namibia will inform the process of NDP5 preparation. We hope that other partners who are planning to support government efforts in addressing hunger will find the review very useful in guiding the focus on their respective strategic planning processes,” Hungamo further stated.
Heading the teams of researchers is Advocate Bience Gawanas who is the special advisor to the Minister of Health.
She implored the experts to come up with solutions on where the mismatch comes in “when there is talk about economic growth and rising poverty levels”.
“We hope that with the strategic review we should be able to answer the following questions: what are the drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition in Namibia, and what quality and financial frameworks, programmes and strategies have been put in place to address these challenges. What are the gaps in existing responses, as everybody is busy doing something. What is the priority gap and what are the priority actions that are required to fill those gaps in order to accelerate progress towards a Namibia without hunger, and also how to look into how these actions are going to be implemented.”
Gawanas said the strategic review “is taking place at an opportune moment as President Hage Geingob has declared war on hunger during his recent interactive regional town hall meetings and in his maiden speech of March 21”.
She said the June 2014 Malabo Declaration of the Assembly of the African Union’s 23rd Ordinary Session in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea – to which Namibia is a signatory – is a very powerful declaration as social protection also has a place in the declaration.
“We do not need to develop any more declarations and any more policies. Namibia was part of that adopted Malabo Declaration. The question therefore is what are we doing in terms of implementation. If we implement part of what is the Malabo Declaration, then we would have moved a great deal in achieving our Vision 2030 and AU Agenda 63 and Sustainable Development Goals (STD’s). We have a government that is committed and a leadership that is committed.” She said the review would take place from now until February 2016 when the final report, findings and recommendations would be presented.
“The exact outcome is to have a comprehensive report on the food and nutrution situations in Namibia to be developed in line with the zero hunger pillars.”