Context
Following decades of progress in improving food security, hunger has been rising again for several years due to the consequences of climate change, the increase in long-term conflicts and a growing world population. The problem is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural and nutrition policies are not sufficiently oriented towards promoting sustainable smallholder farming that aims to meet the population’s nutritional requirements. Food production is not environmentally, socially or economically sustainable or geared towards a healthy diet. This is leading to high levels of food inse-curity and malnutrition worldwide. Women and children are particularly affected.
The international community has committed itself in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to putting an end to extreme poverty, hunger and all forms of malnutrition by the year 2030. Recognising the need for a globally coordinated approach to rural structural change in the agricultural sector and to food security, it has initiated a series of political initiatives and processes. The 2030 Agenda and SDG 2 provide the global reference framework for food security.
Global food security is a core concern of the German Government. Through its One World – No Hun-ger Initiative (SEWOH), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is placing a clear emphasis on combating hunger and malnutrition.
Although agricultural policy is one of the key tools for poverty reduction and food security, it was for years given little priority in developing countries and in development cooperation and often lacked consistency. German development cooperation actors have until now been unable to sufficiently in-corporate up-to-date concepts, strategic initiatives and tried-and-tested approaches to agricultural and nutrition policy and food security into national and international political processes and programmes.
Objective
German development cooperation actors have incorporated up-to-date concepts, strategic initiatives and tried-and-tested approaches to agricultural and nutrition policy and food security into national and international processes and programmes.
Approach
dvised on tackling issues and on decision-making and positioning. The project develops up-to-date approaches and concepts in the topic areas of agricultural policy and food security. It dissem-inates the sector project’s approaches, concepts and lessons learned, building on the experience and impacts of the predecessor project.
Results
The predecessor project achieved the following results:
The sector project provided BMZ with statements, comments and professional inputs on international processes, which BMZ used to help define measures to improve the global nutrition situation. These included specialist contributions in the context of the Germany’s G20 Presidency (2016/2017) and the 2018/2019 processes, as well as the G7 processes in the project period.
BMZ drew on further advisory services in connection with the following: coordination processes with the European Union (EU), positioning in the donor network of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Move-ment, evaluation of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Benin, and positioning in the Sahel Alliance initiative.
The project advised BMZ on fleshing out the evaluation standards being developed for SDG 2 in the German sustainability strategy.
The project provided further advisory services to BMZ with regard to structuring the meetings held three times a year by the Working Group on Global Food Security, a platform for exchange with the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), civil society, academia and the private sector.
International and German development cooperation programmes have drawn on the project’s advisory services in the areas of agricultural policy and food security. Effective concepts have been more firm-ly anchored in development cooperation approaches.
One example worth mentioning here is the CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme) Country Guidelines officially drawn up in 2016. Preparatory advisory services provided by the project were used in developing these. Moreover, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) study Agriculture, Food and Jobs in West Africa was commissioned by the project and disseminated at meetings of international experts.
Another example worth mentioning is the nutrition strategy that the New Partnership for Africa’s Devel-opment (NEPAD) is implementing in African nations at country level. The project advised on the crea-tion of this strategy.
In addition, the project offers training courses in Germany on food security and has developed training materials in English and French. Under the leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and in collaboration with other international organisations, an analytical tool has been developed to ensure that social security programmes place greater emphasis on the need to improve nutrition.