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The Malagasy Parliamentary Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security or APMSAN was established on February 14, 2017. The purpose of APMSAN is to promote food sovereignty by establishing measures on production, marketing and quantity and quality food consumption produced locally, giving priority to most affected by hunger regions, and taking into account the gender dimension. This pioneering initiative aimed to setting up for Madagascar a parliamentary alliance that would collaborate at the regional level with the Panafrican Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.

A laws and regulations on food and nutritional security inventory

The effort to mobilize parliamentarians in their roles as legislators, control and monitoring of interventions in the country impacting on food security and nutrition continues. Work to review the political, legal and institutional contexts of food and nutrition security including the right to adequate food is ongoing. The preliminary results of this work, which are part of the implementation of the APMSAN strategy, are presented during the workshop that is taking place today at the Senate Palace held as part of the regular session of the two legislative chambers.

"A better understanding of the legislative context around food security and nutrition in the country remains essential in order to better formulate the proposals for the improvement of the right to food legal framework in Madagascar" said the APMSAN President, Senator Jafetra Randriamanantsoa. And FAO Representative Patrice Talla Takoukam added that "the country will have to demonstrate the complementarity of legislative actions by parliamentarians and technical actions implemented by the Ministries in favor of food security and nutrition. Everyone has a specific role to play in the fight against food insecurity and malnutrition. "

The legislature has a key role in the fight against food insecurity and malnutrition

"Parliamentarians are at the heart of the hunger eradication process, food security and the broader agenda of sustainable development," according to the FAO Director General, José Graziano da Silva. Indeed, they review and adopt laws, they have a budgetary and control of public expenditures, public policies and national priorities role.

The mission of APMSAN is to advocate for improved policies and key dimensions of promoting the multisectoral approach to fight against hunger and malnutrition. It also aims to promote legislative measures related to food and nutrition security, raising awareness at all levels on this issue and providing a dedicate dialogue and exchange platform.