On August 14, IFPRI and the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) held a Policy Forum on food and nutrition security in Zambia. The meeting was attended by 66 representatives of various international organizations and government ministries, including the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the European Union.
Discussion centered on the need to better coordinate efforts to enhance food and nutrition security. Although Zambia has undergone significant advances in agricultural production in recent years, those advances could further be translated into poverty reduction or improved food security for the rural poor. Child stunting rates remain extremely high at an estimated 45% (Feed the Future estimates). Maize continues to be the most commonly grown crop, as well as the crop most commonly used in hunger relief efforts, leaving out the more nutritious cassava. And while political will to address food and nutrition security concerns is growing, the National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) remains only a small section within the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
The meeting concluded with a call to increase attention to food and nutrition security by elevating the status of the NFNC within the government. Creating a high-level body that can cut across many ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the Ministry of Finance, will be a more effective way to organize food and nutrition security efforts, say dialogue participants. In addition, efforts should be made to educate members of Parliament on the importance of food and nutrition security.
View presentation on food and nutrition security partnerships
View presentation agricultural growth and poverty reduction
View presentation on domestic grain market development
View presentation on volatility
Files:
- View presentation on ACTESA
- View presentation on domestic grain market development
- View presentation on food and nutrition security partnerships
- View presentation agricultural growth and poverty reduction
- View wrap-up presentation
- View presentation on volatility