FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN THE CARIBBEAN

Transcription

1 FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN THE CARIBBEAN This document presents an overview of the work undertaken by the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative Support Project in the Caribbean subregion, as well as the challenges faced and prospects for ongoing involvement in the subregion during 2012 and into The Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative belongs to the countries and is open to all countries in the region; however, after a slow start the level of involvement has gradually increased, particularly in the case of the Caribbean subregion. The HFLAC Initiative (HFLACI), which was proposed on 2005, obtained the endorsement of the FAO in 2006 at the 29 th FAO Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Conference, and where the FAO was asked to assume the critical role of the functional technical secretariat. By the end of 2006 the HFLACI Support Project was developed and activities within the framework of the project were initiated. A Working Group of country representatives was established, with the responsibilities for monitoring the work of Initiative, and provide guidelines and advice to the technical secretariat between FAO Regional Conferences. At the 4 th Working Group (WG2025) meeting, held in 2010 and attended by a representative from CARICOM, it was concluded that special efforts should be made to integrate Caribbean countries and more specific ways were needed to link the Caribbean subregion to the HFLACI, taking into consideration institutional, language, geographical and other factors. In the context of the above, the HFLACI Support Project has been looking into ways of increasing the involvement of the Caribbean subregion within the framework of the Initiative. In coherence with the lines of work established by the Project, there has been a sustained effort to establish more links with the Caribbean Member States and CARICOM its regional integration body- in order to facilitate the flow of information, technical support and dialogue on the relevant issues in the subregional agenda and specific country needs. 1. Background The imperative of addressing food and nutrition security in the Caribbean subregion has been on the agenda for decades. The current need for urgency arises in circumstances of high, rising and volatile food prices in the recent past compounded by a secular decline in regional agriculture due in part to the process of trade liberalization with the progressive elimination of import restrictions and reduction of tariffs and exacerbated by economic, institutional, structural, and technological constraints impeding sectoral productivity and competitiveness. Additionally, increasing dependence on food imports (most countries are net food importers) with its impact on changing food consumption patterns has heightened concerns about rising levels of noncommunicable diseases. In the pursuit of a food and nutrition secured subregion, the Caribbean must confront a complex of formidable challenges including inter alia smallness of land mass and size of population, limited natural resources, youth unemployment, land and water scarcity and management, disaster risk management, climate change and external economic shocks. In response, the CARICOM Heads of Government in July 2009 issued the Liliendaal Declaration on agriculture and food security reaffirming the importance of agriculture for Food and Nutrition 1

2 Security and for the development of the Community. They also unanimously agreed on the need for new approaches to agricultural and rural development to achieve the region s agricultural development potential and adjust to the changed economic, political and natural environment. This set in train a series of initiatives supported by FAO, with the formulation and adoption of a Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy in October 2010 as a major milestone. The RFNSP establishes health, nutrition, food safety and food security goals and specifies a set of integrated actions at regional and national level, involving different government ministries/sectoral agencies, regional organizations and public and private actors. Nine CARICOM Member States have ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which obliges them to respect, protect and fulfill the right to food, obligations that can be progressively realized over time by developing policies and strategies, implementing programmes, adopting laws and regulations and creating and strengthening institutions. 2. Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative (HFLAC) Support Project in the Caribbean The HFLAC Initiative is an expression of the commitment of the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean Region towards eradicating hunger and ensuring food and nutritional security for all inhabitants, promoting the right to food and bolstering the target of the World Food Summit (WFS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG1 and MDG7) until 2015 and beyond if necessary. The HFLACI Support Project supports the development of public policies and programmes to eradicate hunger through state commitments that will translate as institutional recognition of food and nutritional security (policies, laws, right to food, strategies) and as implementation of a plan of action with an allocation of budgetary resources commensurate with the magnitude of the problem in each country. In the Caribbean subregion, the HFLACI Support Project has focussed its efforts in the following key areas: Establishment of linkages and cooperation with CARICOM and other regional bodies. Establishment of Focal Points in Member States. Data collection and information monitoring for policy analysis and planning. Institutional strengthening legislation, right to food, regulatory frameworks. Parliamentary Fronts. Policy development and planning regional, national policies, strategies, and action plans Small scale agriculture. Information, communication and education in food and nutrition security. 3. Progress and Results 3.1 CARICOM Secretariat as Institutional Partner The HFLACI Support Project views the CARICOM Secretariat as a key institutional partner in the Caribbean subregion and has, therefore, deepened the regional cooperation agenda with the Secretariat. In 2011, the Hunger Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative Support 2

3 Project contributed to the Caribbean subregion through a letter of agreement between the FAO and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat. The contribution was in support of and advancing efforts made by the FAO in developing the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy (RFNSP) and Action Plan (RFNSAP). 3.2 The Establishment of Focal Points The establishment of a focal point in each Member State is a key component of the institutional coordination and liaison mechanism in the framework of the HFLAC Initiative. These points of reference are critical to the promotion of awareness, management of the demand for knowledge and technical backstopping at the level of the Member States as well as for communication, and are facilitated through the FAO national representations. To March 2012, there are five functional national focal points in the Member States of CARICOM: four in Englishspeaking countries (Bahamas, Belice, Jamaica y St. Kitts y Nevis) and one in Haiti. Focal points have also been appointed in Cuba and in the Dominican Republic. 3.3 Data Collection and Information Monitoring for Policy Analysis and Planning The HFLAC Initiative Support Project is currently engaged in a Caribbean Food and Nutrition Security Institutional Mapping exercise as well as providing support to a Right to Food Assessment in the subregion. Both activities are important in providing the baseline information required for designing more effective, coherent interventions to address the short and longer term dimensions of issues related to vulnerable populations, right to food and the integration of civil societies in the food and nutrition security agenda of the Caribbean. Partial mapping of the School Feeding Programmes as well as Small Scale Agriculture in the Caribbean have been completed. In addition, a preliminary assessment has been completed of thirteen regional public institutions with mandates inclusive of regional policy and plan formulation and implementation spanning the economic and social sectors and the environment; promotion of consumer protection and food safety; advising on and coordinating the regional response to climate change; disaster risk reduction and management; and securing law, justice and human rights. 3.4 Institutional Strengthening Discussions held during 2011 between FAO and the CARICOM region pointed to a convergence between the needs for technical support identified by CARICOM and its Member States within the context of the region s food and nutrition security (FNS) agenda and the technical assistance that can be provided under the projects Support to the Strengthening of FAO s Cooperation with Civil Society, Coherent Food Security Responses: Incorporating Right to Food into Global and Regional Food Security Initiatives, and the HFLAC The identified needs for technical support were in the following contexts: (a) the formulation of national and regional FNS policies and action plans, (b) need for legal guidance on right to food and for creating a solid legal environment for the design, implementation and monitoring of FNS as well as other policies and action plans at the national and regional levels (c) the concerns of Member States with achieving MDG1, and policies and actions to 3

4 this end which should have a right to food focus, and apply human rights principles and good governance, and (d) the need to involve civil society in the FNS agenda of the Caribbean for inclusiveness. It is within this context that the HFLAC Initiative Support Project, in collaboration with the Right to Food and Civil Society Projects, provided support to the development of the CARICOM Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan (RFNSAP) through participation in (a) the CARICOM Technical Working Group Meeting held in Belize in July 2011, and (b) the RFNSAP Validation Workshop which was held in Barbados in September 2011 and attended by key government officials, and civil society and the private sector representatives. The support provided was instrumental in creating awareness and understanding of what the right to food means in practice and of the role of civil society in policy formulation and implementation. It also resulted in the strengthening of the right to food and good governance underpinnings of the RFNSAP. The HFLACI Support Project has provided support in strengthening the capacity of the Caribbean subregion in the areas of planning and implementation of the CARICOM FNS agenda by funding of the positions of a CARICOM FNS Consultant, based at the CARICOM Secretariat, as well as that of a Regional Policy Advisor/Consultant, FNS for the Caribbean, housed at the FAO Sub-regional office in Barbados. 3.5 Parliamentary Fronts Very little activity has taken place in this area in the Caribbean subregion. Nevertheless, the FAO Sub-regional Office in the Caribbean, in September 2011, facilitated exploratory discussions between Senior Officers of HFLACI Support Project, Right to Food and Civil Society Projects and the Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (a parliamentarian) on the development of a parliamentary front in Barbados. In addition, a presentation on Concept of the Right to Food was made at a Ministerial Luncheon that was hosted by the FAO during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA), held in Dominica in October The luncheon was attended by over 90 percent of Dominica s parliamentarians as well as all Council of Trade and Economic Development (COTED) Ministers of Agriculture present at CWA. 3.6 Policy Development and Planning The HFLACI Support Project, through the Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant, has provided support to the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean in the implementation of three main activities in the areas of policy development and planning. (i) Technical Coordination of a Regional Consultation on Policy and Programmatic Actions to Address High Food Prices in the Caribbean Ministers of Agriculture, senior officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade, Finance, and Economic Development and Planning, and representatives from regional inter-governmental organizations, development partners, donors, research institutions, the private sector and civil societies from sixteen (16) FAO Member States in the Caribbean as well as from Curaçao and Montserrat met in Trinidad and Tobago in June, 2011, to address the effects of high food prices in the region. The Regional Consultation on Policy 4

5 and Programmatic Actions to Address the High Food Prices in the Caribbean was convened by the FAO in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank and the CARICOM Secretariat. The HFLACI Support Project, through the Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant, provided technical coordination support to the FAO Sub-Regional Office of the Caribbean in the planning and conduct of the Regional Consultation, and was ably supported by FAO s Regional and Headquarters Offices in Santiago, Chile and Rome, Italy, respectively. The Regional Consultation was attended by over sixty five participants. The participants of the Consultation discussed the issue of high food prices and made recommendations as to actions and strategies to address the issue in the short, medium and long term. The participants also recommended key players in the sector who should spearhead some of the identified actions, in order to ensure implementation and sustainability. The FAO was requested to be the lead agency in areas related to (a) the establishment of a Regional Information Platform and Technical Working Group on Monitoring/Managing Food Prices, with responsibilities for monitoring global and domestic prices and policies, recommending policy and program actions and mobilizing resources for action; (b) Strengthening the implementation of praedial larceny best practice legislation to reduce food theft (losses) and increase investment; (c) Reduction in postharvest loss; and (d) Determining the feasibility of producing sorghum and corn as inputs for feed production (ii) Preparation of the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan The HFLACI Support Project supported the preparation of the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan, through a participatory process led by the CARICOM Secretariat, which culminated in the endorsement and approval of the Plan by the Council of Ministers of Trade and Economic Development (COTED) (Special Agriculture) at a meeting held in October 2011, in Dominica. (iii) Technical Cooperation Projects (TCPs) The HFLACI Support Project, through the Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant, supported the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean in the development of four Technical Cooperation Projects (TCPs) in support of the food and nutrition security agenda in the subregion. One (TCP) project entitled Sub-regional Project for the preparation of National Food and Nutrition Security Policies and Action Programmes in the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM, is aimed at enhancing Member States capacities to achieve the MDG 1 by addressing the root causes of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. The project is expected to result in (a) the preparation of Nine (9) National Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) policies and programmes prepared within the subregion; (b) the upgrading of the skills and knowledge of staff of CARICOM Secretariat and officers in Member States in areas related to situation analysis/assessment and FNS policy and programme formulation processes; (c) the strengthening of capacities of CARICOM Secretariat and Member States in the project management cycle to deal with the issues relating to the mobilization of resources for FNS programmes and projects; (d) the design and establishment of mechanisms for effective monitoring and evaluation of impact of FNS 5

6 activities; (e) the formulation of subregional and national programmes and project profiles for addressing medium- and long-term constraints on food and nutrition security; and (f) the establishment of integrated institutional framework for national coordination on the issues of FNS. The second TCP entitled Sub-regional Project for the establishment of an Information and Early Warning System in support of Food and Nutrition Security in the CARICOM Sub-region, is aimed at creating an enabling environment at national and regional levels for integrated and harmonized actions, with proper monitoring and analyses of the food and security situation in the Caribbean subregion. The project is expected to result in (a) an analysis of the existing situation with respect to the systems for monitoring and analyses of FNS at the national and regional levels; (b) the development, testing and installation of early warning methodologies, tools and techniques at both the national and regional levels; (c) the development of the necessary computerized databases for both historical and current data, agricultural statistics, agro-meteorology, remote sensing, food and input prices, nutrition and other socio-economic parameters for each Member State; (d) the strengthening of the infrastructure for data collection; (e) the design of communication network for early warning system; (f) the establishment of a Information Platform to monitor and manage volatile and high food and input prices; (g) the development of national and regional capacities in Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS); and (h) the development/strengthening of human capacity for data and policy analyses and the design of intervention strategies; and (i) the establishment of Multi-sectoral Committees on Food and Nutrition Security. The other TCPs are aimed at addressing critical areas related to Food Safety and Post-harvest Loss Reduction and are in the pipeline for approval. In addition the HFLACI Support Project is currently backstopping the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean in the preparation of National Food and Nutrition Security Policies and Action Plans for Barbados and Grenada within the framework of national Technical Cooperation Project Facilities (TCPFs). 3.7 Small Scale Agriculture The work of the HFLACI Support Project in this area in the Caribbean subregion has focussed on supporting the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean on regional level activities related to disaster risk management and small and medium size agro-processing enterprises. In that context, the HFLACI Support Project, through the Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant, participated in a Regional Write Shop to assist in the preparation of Disaster Risk Management Plans for hurricanes, floods and droughts in the agriculture sector in the Caribbean, which was held in Grenada in The Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant has collaborated with the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and the Inter-American Institute for the Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to develop the model and structure of a reinsurance programme for the banana farmers of the Windward Islands (WINCROP), for obtaining funding from the United Kingdom Department For 6

7 International Development (DFID). A facility is to be approved for the establishment of a Caribbean Agricultural Insurance Micro Development Trust Fund at the CDB. The HFLACI Support Project, through the Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant, also participated in a Small and Medium Agro-processing Enterprises (SMAEs) Roundtable discussion, which was held in Jamaica in March The Roundtable discussion was successful in (a) the sharing of information on the challenges facing Caribbean agro-processing enterprises; (b) clarifying the region s agro-processing specific circumstances and competitiveness challenges; (c)identifying SMAEs business development strategies, initiatives and priorities; and (d) determining public sector and development organizations opportunities and priorities for supporting SMAEs in the Caribbean. 3.8 Information, Communication and Education in Food and Nutrition Security (FNICE) In order to learn about the FNICE interventions that are being carried out in the region, the Nutrition Education and Consumer Awareness Group, in conjunction with the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative (HFLACI) Support Project, conducted a study in 2011 in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean on best practices in FNICE programs, together with an analysis of the educational programs being offered to nutritionists and other health, education and agriculture professionals on the subject. Four Caribbean English-speaking countries (Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica) were included in the study. HFLACI information is being disseminated through the production of material (information mails, documents, meeting results, web page, etc) in English. This is a first step in a gradual process to improve communication with English-speaking countries. 4. Challenges and prospects The Caribbean Sub-region is faced with a number of challenges with respect to the implementation of the HFLACI. Notwithstanding the prospects of the project impacting significantly on the poverty and hunger landscape in the Caribbean is great, once the critical challenges are addressed. In the first instance, there is inadequacy in the inter-institutional mechanism to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the coordination of the diverse efforts to address hunger and poverty in the subregion. Secondly, there is the need to deepen the participatory approaches and partnership in the formulation and implementation policies and plans to achieve a food secured Caribbean subregion. It must be recognized the process requires a multi-sectoral, multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary approach, inclusive of the private sector and civil society. Thirdly, the subregion must be innovative in its approach to the introduction of the right to food in its FNS agenda. The right to food concept requires the creation of awareness and understanding of the concept and its implications in terms of content and processes through aggressive sensitization and promotion at all levels. Fourthly, there is the need to develop an aggressive subregional resource mobilization programmme to ensure the availability of resources for the implementation of activities. Fifthly, there is the need to build capacities and capabilities in areas related to the Project Cycle management, in order to ensure the availability of 7

8 well-designed projects to be utilized as instruments for accessing resources. Sixthly, there is the need to allocate more resources on enterprise development at the community level, if hunger is to be effectively addressed. Finally, there is the need to program adequate resources to address the demand side of FNS agenda if the Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs), which are prevalent in the Caribbean, are to be adequately addressed. 5. HFLACI Support Project Activities in the Caribbean in HFLACI Support Project efforts in the Caribbean during will be effected mainly through the Regional FNS Policy Advisor/Consultant, and will focus on supporting the FAO Sub-regional Office in four broad areas with the following expected outcomes: (a) enhanced food and nutrition security (FNS) policy environment for addressing FNS issues; (b) enhanced decision making process, including better coordination, management and monitoring and evaluation of regional and national FNS policies and plans; (c) financial and technical resources mobilized for the implementation of FNS programs and related interventions at the regional and national levels; and (d) enhanced Disaster Risk Management Program in the Caribbean. (i) Enhanced Food and Nutrition Security Policy Environment The component of the work program will focus on (a) the preparation of FNS policies and action plans in eleven CARICOM Member States (Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago), and their endorsement and approval by national governments, (b) the incorporation of right to food in FNS policy and strategy frameworks of Member States, and (c) the initiation of actions for the establishment of a FNS information and early warning systems (EWS) in the Caribbean. (ii) Enhanced Decision Making Process Activities to be executed within the framework of this aspect of the work programme are (a) the establishment of an institutional mechanism to ensure Caribbean liaison and link with the Committee on World Food Security, HFLACI, donor agencies, development partners and integration between the RFNSP and RFNSAP and national FNS policies and plans of actions, (b) the establishment of an Information Platform for monitoring, evaluation and reporting on global and domestic prices and policy with respect to priority commodities in the food consumption bundle as well as inputs, and (c) the completion of a FNS institutional mapping exercise. (iii) Financial and Technical Resources Mobilized The activities to be implemented under this component of the Caribbean HFLACI Support Project work programme include (a)the establishment of an FNS donors group to be coordinated by the Caribbean Development Bank, (b)the development of profiles of donor and financial institutions which will be made available to relevant stakeholders, (c) the provision of support at the national and regional levels for the development of capacity and capability in the Project Cycle, and (d) the determination of the techno-economic feasibility of the production of corn and sorghum as inputs for feed production. 8

9 (iv) Enhanced Disaster Risk Management Programme in the Caribbean The main project activities to be implemented under this component of the work programme include (a) the provision of support to the implementation of disaster risk management measures in the Caribbean, (b) the provision of support to the preparation and dissemination of praedial larceny best practice measures to mitigate its impact on the theft of produce, (c) in collaboration with the UNECLAC (CEPAL), the provision of training in Disaster Needs Assessments and estimating Damage and Loss (DaLA) as a result of disasters and the conduct of DaLAs in the aftermath of disasters; and (d) the provision of support for post disaster rehabilitation / reconstruction efforts. 9