Support to Food Security and Nutrition policies and programing: The Role of

Transcription

1 Support to Food Security and Nutrition policies and programing: The Role of Yemen Food Security Information System (FSIS) Development Programme, FAO Yemen Regional Multi-stakeholder Workshop on Food Security and Nutrition Amman, April 28-29, 2015 Suleiman Mohamed (CTA, FSIS Programme, FAO Yemen); Abdul Wahed Mukred (Head, FSTS, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, Yemen) The Yemen FSIS development programme is funded by the EU; implemented by FAO with MOPIC/FSTS

2 Background: Yemen - Socio-Economic Highlights Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Arab World; highest poverty level (54.5% of population in 2012); Has one of the highest population growth rates in the world and nearly half of the population is below 15 years of age. High unemployment rate about 40 percent; Highest rate (52.9%) among age group; Heavy dependence on oil exports for its foreign exchange; The country faces serious water scarcity; Imports some over 90% of its staple foodstuffs & heavily dependent on the markets for food access; Crop agriculture employs about 54% of labor force;

3 Background: Yemen - Food Security Highlights Sources: WFP/UNICEF CFSS, FAO-led IPC Analysis, Estimates (2014/2015). Poor food security situation due to a complex web of factors, related mainly to conflict and civil insecurity; About 12 million people (just under 50% of the population) facing emergency or crisis level food insecurity - worsened by escalating conflict; About 850,000 are malnourished; National Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) levels stood at 12.7 percent (in 2014); Stunting levels are at about 43%. Most food insecure governorates are: Sa ada, Hajjah, Lahaj, Abyan and Shabwa, and those recently affected by fierce fighting; About 150,000 people are newly displaced in addition to previous number of over 110,000 families; Main causes of food insecurity include low incomes; poor markets access, high food and fuel prices, reduced purchasing power, production shortfalls, etc; The worst affected include: Poor women and children, small-scale farmers and sharecroppers, landless labourers, nomadic herders and artisanal fishermen and IDPs.

4 Yemen Food Security Information System (FSIS) Programme Funded by the European Union and Implemented by FAO and the Food Security Technical Secretariat/MoPIC

5 The Yemen Food Security Information Systems (FSIS) Development Programme Project Overview

6 The Yemen FSIS Programme Funding: European Union (EU) 6million Implementation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS), MoPIC, Yemen. 36 months: Project Coverage: National level and six Governorates (Hodeida, Hajjah, Lahaj, Hadhramout, Dhamar, and Taiz) Builds on previous and current programmes Has government commitments and contributions

7 Yemen FSIS: Programme Objective Assist and support the efforts of the Government in establishing a conducive institutional set up for food security decision making supported by a relevant, effective and sustainable National Food Security Information System. 7

8 FSIS Project Justification Despite the Government (with donor help) developing various national strategies, such as, Food Security, Nutrition, etc, a number of challenges exist: Weak institutional and governance structures of the FS Information Systems; Inadequate capacities to plan, budget, and implement FS Policies and Strategies; Insufficient FS and Nutrition data collection, analysis and coordination mechanisms; Lack of systematic policy formulation processes and inadequate stakeholder participation; Poor information sharing even among ministries and between national and governorate levels; Inadequate utilization of available information mainly due to weak capacities; Fragmented and inadequate responses to food insecurity situations;. At the request of the government and the understanding of the EU delegation, FAO received funding for the FSIS programme to address these issues (with govt.).

9 Governance and Implementation Structures (MoPIC and FAO) GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTING STRUCTURES FAO IMPLEMENTING STRUCTURES Higher Council for Food Security (Prime Minister) Other Government Partners Policy and Programme Support MoPIC Minister Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS). (Head of FSTS) Seconded Technical Staff - Line Ministries (National level): Agriculture and Irrigation; Fish Wealth; Water and Environment; Trade and Industry; Health & Nutrition MoPIC-CSO C- Project Steering Committee (PSC) (MoPIC V/Min) Ops & Admin. Officer & admin support FAO - Yemen FAO/FSIS-Project Support Unit (Headed by CTA) Food Security Information System Specialist Nutrition Officer National Food Security Coordinator; and Food Security /IPC Analyst; Database and GIS Officer; Livelihoods Officer; Marketing and Trade Officer Markets Officer (TBD) Non- Governme nt Partners (UN, NGO) Governorate FSIS Focal Units (GFU) 6 Governorates & Governorate Structures

10 Strategic Focus Areas and Value Added Analysis and improved understanding of existing capacity gaps; Establish/Strengthen an effective cross-sectoral Food Security Information Systems Institutional Framework; Establish and strengthen the FSTS at national level key ministries/sectors represented; Building governorate FS Coordination mechanisms; Establish linkages between governorates and national level and relevant government ministries;

11 Strategic Focus Areas and Value Added (Contd ) Establish an inclusive Food Security information Systems (FSIS) to support policy decisions; Enhance & better coordinate FS&N Information gathering & flow; Enhance data analysis, consensus building and reporting to provide evidence base for decision making; Establish multi-sectoral policy dialogue forums to increase participation in policy and programme decision-making processes Build Capacity of the FSTS & other govt. departments; Training and mentoring to enhance local capacities; Providing necessary equipment, methods and tools; Strengthen joint analysis and consensus building among stakeholders with the FSTS;

12 Other Value Added Regular food security analysis reports and information in both Arabic and English languages; (Yemen FSIS-Sample FS Updates.pdf) Advocacy for increased resource mobilization for crucial FS&N programmes; Opportunity for Yemen to learn from Other similar situations in the Region (e.g. Sudan, Somalia, etc); Opportunity to benefit from FAO s national, regional and global expertise and experience;

13 Lessons learned Closely engaging government structures at different levels enhances access to crucial data and information for FS&N analysis; Consultation and inclusion of government partner in all implementation processes - enhances ownership; Strong national team involvement has enabled data collection and reporting during time of crisis; Political and security crises causes delays and can reduce the governments resources contribution;

14 Thank you شكرا لكم Yemen FSIS development programme is funded by the EU; implemented by FAO with MOPIC/FSTS برنامج تطوير منظومة معلومات االمن الغذائي في اليمن الممول من االتحاد االؤروبي وينفذ عبر الفاو مع السكرتارية الفنية لالمن الغذائي / وزارة التخطيط والتعاون الدولي 14