Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

This member contributed to:

    • Agrifood systems globally are facing unprecedented challenges due to climatic variations, with Southern Africa and Zambia particularly vulnerable. Recent droughts experienced in the 2023/2024 farming season have exacerbated food insecurity and water scarcity among other challenges; highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive strategies that promote integration of foresight, regional perspectives and multistakeholder collaboration. In the context of Zambia, the intersection of these elements and the food system situation which is largely influenced by the Government's Farmer Input Support Programme. The FISP promotes industrial fertilizers and chemicals, contrary to agroecological principles and this context  underpins the importance of exploring multistakeholder perspectives with the aim to transform the agrifood systems. 

      In terms of regional and multistakeholder perspectives; regional perspectives play a crucial role in understanding the unique challenges and opportunities within agrifood systems. For instance, despite the region (southern Africa) being hit by El Nino and drought conditions, the different countries have diverse ecosystems and socio-economic contexts which have been critical in tailoring specific approaches to address food insecurity. In terms of multistakeholder engagement. Tghis is essential for the successful implementation of foresight initiatives through collaboration among governments, NGOs, research institutions, farmers, and communities. Multistakeholder collaboration can foster innovation and ensure the relevance and sustainability of interventions. In the context of agrifood systems, involving stakeholders at all levels is imperative to address complex challenges comprehensively.

      Attaining effective implementation of foresight on emerging Technologies and Innovations in Agrifood Systems requires effective collaboration and coordination among various stakeholders. For instance, Government as the main anchor of Agri extension and regulator of the sector needs to buy in and provide an enabling environment especially the policy framework. Similarly, CSOs and NGOs have a duty to reach out to the marginalised and excluded; to ensure they have access to information and innovations. The Academia and researchers also bring to the table a wealth of experience in terms of what has worked and what hasn’t. This is critical for strengthening shared understanding, implementation programmes. 

    • Evidence based research can be key in n informing policy. Researchers and knowledge holders have the feel of how a piece of legislation impacts on the target group. By interacting with issues downstream they have a better understanding of what works and what doesn't and should be in a stronger position to advise policy makers as such. Unfortunately there is always a gap between researchers and policy developers. Policy developers have their own research unit which informs the process but that may not be enough as you need wider research and knowledge input from different perspectives such as gender , livelihood status, community priorities etc.  These are key factors to take into consideration for effective policy development . 

    • Policies and strategies should be tailored in the context of Human Rights Based Approach. This should be with recognition that poverty is one of the drivers of human rights abuse and especially the people living in poverty who are so vulnerable to abuse. Secondly, the policies should provide for localisation of protection mechanisms which empower local communities to report any form of abuse whilst ensuring victims are protected from victimisation. 

    • For a long time now, AEAS have been male dominated; due to mainly the patriarchy arrangements. Knowledge and exposure is perceived as a preserve of men. The problem is even deeper in rural areas where agriculture is the mainstay of people's livelihoods. This approach is however in contrast with the situation on the ground; women are more involved in provision of agricultural labor, they are responsible for providing food for the family. They are however doing all that with little or no knowledge as the knowledge is sitting with the man. The extension workers in most cases are male; who may have barriers to effectively connect with women to get to the underlying causes of the inequalities women experience and how these can be addressed. This is the gap and food insecurity continues to widen and deepen. Unless we begin to addressing the underlying causes which mainly touch on culture and tradition; unless we begin to transformatively empower women to understand their rights but also acquire reasonable levels of education and begin to create spaces for them to engage based on their needs; we will continue to experience these high levels of food insecurity and poor nutrition.

    • Nutrition sensitivity with regard food value chains is constrained by the lack of diversification due to land limitations and lack of diversity of seeds. Ever increasing populations coupled with unsustainable methods of farming make huge parcels of  land to become unproductive to support plant growth and pressure mount in terms of demand for limited arable land. This constrains diversification. The second point on lack of seed diversity  has increasingly worsened over the past years with the reinforcement of commercial agriculture which builds dependence on external seeds supplied by commercial entities. These seeds are hybrid in nature and therefore have to be bought every season. With the poverty levels among the rural farming households; they become dependent, lose food production sovereignity and can only bank on hybrids supplied by commercial entities. Further, due to the use of chemicals in the production, these can have adverse effects on human nutrition endangered by GMOs and residual chemical elements which compromises the quality of food.