Strengthening Namibia’s capacities in food insecurity situation analysis
Swakopmund - The trained experts will be able to classify acute food insecurity efficiently and effectively
Food and nutrition experts in Namibia have undergone a week-long Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Level 1 training to improve their knowledge and skills in the use of tools and procedures in analysing and classifying food insecurity.
The training will capacitate them to become IPC Level 1 Certified “IPC Analyst” at global, regional, and country levels.
The participants are members of the Namibia Vulnerability Assessment Committee (NamVAC) that regularly assess the country's vulnerability, food, and nutrition security situation. Namibia will carry out assessment in the months of June and July. Each year, NamVAC conducts analyses of livelihood vulnerability in all the 14 regions of the country and delivers timely findings to the stakeholders and decision-makers in government.
“The training is a great boost to strengthening the capacities of the analysis of Vulnerability Assessment. The analysts will be able to execute Vulnerability Assessment Analysis promptly, efficiently, and effectively, and pass on the information to other members of the team,” said Executive Director in the Office of the Prime Minister, I-Ben Natangwe Nashandi.
The training covered the functions, protocols, and tools of Acute Food Insecurity analysis, and the steps for conducting an analysis.
“The training makes clear the steps of conducting the Acute Food Insecurity analysis. Understanding the reliability score was particularly important, as most of the time we have been leaving out vital information that can support the analysis. We did not know what piece of information to include in the analysis, and therefore we would end using guesses,” said Amally Muhongo from Oshikoto Regional Council.
The level 1 training is part of the IPC Certification Programme, which includes specific requirements and steps to fulfil including completing Level 2 and Level 3 in order to become a qualified “IPC Trainer and Facilitator”.
Participants came from the Department of Disaster Risk Management (DDRM), National Statistics Agency (NSA), Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Councils, and Academia.
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