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SCN Working Group on Household Food Securityheld during the ACC/SCN's 29th Session in Berlin, Germany, March 2002 Activities and Progress since March 2001 Prepared by Kraisid Tontisirin and Brian ThompsonEstablished by the ACC/SCN, the Working Group on Household Food Security has a membership of interested UN agencies, bilaterals and CSOs. Among the recommendations of the Working Group at the Nairobi meeting was: the creation of a Task Force; sharing of operational research on community-level best practices; reaching consensus on community-centred food-based nutrition improvement programmes, possibly including holding a workshop to discuss this; drawing up a plan of action for incorporating community nutrition approaches into country level policies and programmes (UNDAF, CCA, Network on RDFS etc); and exploring the use of food aid for improving household food security. A Virtual Task Force (VTF) was set up following Nairobi to provide guidance for following up on the conclusions and recommendations. The working principle of the tripartite VTF is to gain as broad a participation of committed and active people and organisations as possible. To facilitate this, e-mail communication was employed using such exchanges to encourage the reaching of agreement on Working Group objectives and the processes by which these could be attained. It was suggested the objective be:
The VTF is proceeding to identify more clearly what the VTF and the Working Group can do. Efforts continue to reach agreement on a plan of work for the Working Group with emphasis on sharing of information and experiences, with outcomes and schedule of activities for improving household food security and nutrition. A draft Progress Report was circulated to members of the VTF and a meeting of VTF members and interested non-members was held on Monday March 11, 2002 evening to discuss the draft report. Opportunity was taken to review the progress taken so far and the next steps. It was recognised that though the importance of household food security for nutrition was important, insufficient attention had been paid to this in most development efforts. To move this forward it was suggested that the WG take advantage of the richness and variety of experiences of the development community to build on lessons learnt and to further develop joint approaches, strategies and tools. Given the complexity of the almost limitless scope of possible activities, the VTF needs to identify in more detail the specific areas that the Working Group can address. This may include work on defining common terminology, concepts and approaches, the compilation and sharing of lessons learnt for reaching a consensus on best practices, the identification of indicators related to household food security, advocating for the more prominent position of household food security in development efforts for improving nutrition, and for moving from "know how" to "do how". Two background papers were circulated for comments as a starting point for reaching broad consensus on the way forward for developing and implementing community approaches for improving household food security and reducing malnutrition. The following specific areas were considered for greater attention:
The merits of gathering further empirical evidence of those community-driven food-based efforts that have proven impacts on nutrition has been recognised. Indeed some work on lessons learnt and methodologies and tools for assessing nutritional benefits of community programmes have been undertaken. However it was felt that enough is already known about causes and constraints not to delay the implementation of more effective action programmes for improving nutrition. Successful approaches for improving nutrition must look beyond food alone. Interdisciplinary divides must be bridged and focus given to implementing well-designed programmes for improving household food security and nutrition. However the Working Group would not become 'operational' nor would it be preparing a blueprint for action as it is recognised that there is no one-way of achieving our objective. Rather the Working Group is an interest group acting as a networking forum for sharing our experiences for identifying, where appropriate, how approaches and activities may be harmonised for the better design, management and greater impact of community driven programmes. ConclusionsIt is very useful to have interaction between interested parties on how improvements in household food security can be used for improving nutrition. The Virtual Task Force invites new members. Objectives for the Working Group and the VTF have been put forward and agreed upon. The Working Group will need to continue to take stock of existing knowledge and to identify more clearly what can be done. Initial priority is to focus on community based nutrition programming (CNP) for improving household food security and nutrition, a complex issue for which a detailed workplan needs to be developed, including definition of terminologies, strategies and approaches and their key elements/components. Greater efforts need to be made for incorporating CNP at international, national and local levels. The Working Group needs also to look more closely to household food security in HIV/AIDS, emergencies and in urban situations. Although the WG has made some progress this year, it has been a slow start. To quicken the pace, the VTF sincerely would like to encourage those of you interested in this area to join the WG, to actively participate in the e-mail discussion forum and to help in shaping and driving the agenda forward. We look forward to a year of renewed partnerships and strengthened collaboration with all partners in achieving the objectives of the Working Group. |
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