LEX-FAOC110821

The present Ministry of Agriculture, irrigation and Livestock’s Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) Strategy creates synergies, fills gaps, expands the scope and reinforces impacts of MAIL actions for improving the food and nutrition security situation of the Afghan population in general and for the large segments of poor farmers and rural households in particular. The overall Goal of FNS is to achieve food security and nutrition at national and household’s level. By particularly targeting areas with food gaps or high food security risks and vulnerable and food insecure rural households, the following strategic objectives are being pursued: (i) ensure the availability of sufficient food for all Afghans, (ii) improve economic and physical access to food, especially by vulnerable and food insecure population groups, (iii) ensure stable food supplies over time and in disaster situations, (iv) promote healthy diets, adequate food utilization and good nutrition practices particularly by women and children. In designing and implementing the FSN strategy, the following guiding principles are applied: (i) identification and removal of existing constraints to food production, access to food, stability, food utilization and nutrition which farmers and rural households face, (ii) strengthening the resilience of farmers and their ability to cater for the food and nutritional needs of their families, (iii) intersectoral and interdepartmental coordination and cooperation. In order to eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, a number of key strategies will be implemented by the strategy in order to improve food utilization and nutrition including: (i) promotion of diversification of production with regard to nutrition-sensitive products, (ii) promotion of home-based food processing, storage and conservation, (iii) extension services for women (agriculture, home gardening, livestock keeping, household food security, nutrition, food processing), (iv) capacity building, training in business management and technical fields, health and nutrition campaigns and nutrition education. In order to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the government plans strategic actions to increase and improve irrigated agriculture. They include the following approaches: expansion of irrigation systems, rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems, the establishment of water storage facilities, introduction to irrigation technologies and improved water and irrigation management. Strategic approaches that have to be applied in designing, planning and implementing agricultural development interventions are: (i) promotion of appropriate land use practices in irrigated and dry-land farming (e.g. watershed management), (ii) developing and promoting improved production technology packages, based on farming systems research, which take into account the specific needs, constraints, capacities, resources, livelihood conditions, and coping mechanisms of farmers and their households, the environmental conditions as well as aspects of quantity and quality of production, (iii) increasing the diversity of food production to enhance households’ resilience to disasters and enable them to maintain a more diversified and balanced diet, (iv) vaccination of animals against common diseases, (v) promotion of sustainable land use practices and promotion of organic farming. To enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the government plans to implement the following strategies: (i) exploring the possibilities for cooperation with the private sector, (ii) rehabilitation and expansions of rural infrastructure (roads, market). To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the government will strengthen the resilience of farmers against shocks in order to reduce the vulnerability of farmers who are exposed to the risk of natural disasters and changing weather conditions due to climate change. Strategic measures by MAIL to strengthen the resilience of farmers include: (i) promotion of applied research in drought and pest resistant varieties, and arrangements that the research results are transmitted to the farmers via the extension services, (ii) support to farmers to resume their farming business aftershocks (provision of seeds and other inputs, rehabilitation measures on farmland, restocking), (iii) vaccination of animals against common diseases, (iv) afforestation, soil conservation and management. In the context of governance, A FSN coordination unit will be established under the Office of the Deputy Minister technical affairs. In an initial phase, it will be composed of as Head of the unit, an FSN Coordination Officer, and an FSN M&E officer. The FSN coordination unit will also act a secretariat for the FSN technical working group and serve as the FSN Focal Point of MAIL.