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16 July, 2019 \u2013 Pretoria<\/p>\n
The past 12 months have been characterized by a worsening of the food security and nutrition situation in southern Africa. The region\u2019s current food and nutrition status is dire, compared to the same time last year. According to the Southern Africa Development Community\u2019s (SADC) Food and Nutrition Security Report for 2019, southern Africa now has 41 million hungry people, compared to 29.4 million people in the 2018 report.\u00a0 The report further notes that not much progress has been registered on nutrition, with stunting levels still very high.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the release of the report, the Managing Deputy Regional Director (MDRD) <\/strong>for CARE International (Southern Africa), Matthew Pickard <\/strong>said, \u201cWe appreciate SADC for consistently producing sub-regional annual updates on the state of food and nutrition, but we are worried that the situation is getting worse, with increasingly more people being food insecure and malnourished. Climate change continues to affect agriculture investments and production. We are calling on governments, private sector and non-governmental organizations to focus on climate smart agriculture (CSA) by intensifying irrigation, research and technology development.\u201d<\/p>\n Food insecurity has increased by 28% in the southern Africa region largely due to floods, droughts and pests, and further exacerbated by climate change. Most households will exhaust their food in under three months.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must applaud SADC for the timeous release of this important report. It is ample proof of the entrenchment and institutionalization of the multi-sectoral processes and routines necessary for its development, both at national and regional levels. The next step should focus on ensuring that this knowledge product becomes an integral part of national and regional policy making, as the region moves to address the worsening food and nutrition insecurity\u201d, said Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila, the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Mission of FANRPAN.<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Shungu Gwarinda, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Gra<\/strong>\u00e7a Machel Trust (GMT), <\/strong>notes that \u201cThe report provides multisectoral players, including policy makers and practitioners with critical information to urgently deliberate on key interventions required to not only stem the deterioration in the food and nutrition security situation in the region, but also catalyse an urgent response from SADC. The Trust strongly urges governments in the region to use the opportunity presented by the SADC Summit in Tanzania next month to deliberate on the findings and more importantly develop a response to the worsening situation\u201d. \u00a0A multisectoral and multi-stakeholder approach that encompasses both the public and private sectors is required to address this situation in a sustainable way.<\/p>\n Reflecting on this observation, CARE USA\u2019s Advocacy and Partnerships Coordinator for Southern Africa, Mr. Vitumbiko Chinoko <\/strong>said \u201cStunting has negative impacts on the development of whole countries as it impacts directly on the youth dividend. It is known that stunting impedes the functional and cognitive development, educational performance, and productivity of the child\u201d. As a solution, Mr. Chinoko recommended that Governments should actively prioritize addressing the nutrition issue by promoting and investing behind nutrition sensitive agriculture, and committing to increase national budget allocation to nutrition specific challenges.<\/p>\n With their focus trained on the future, CARE, FANRPAN and GMT call on a collaboration of governments and development partners towards ensuring that the 2019\/20 agriculture investment is diversified enough to adequately respond to the changing climate scenarios, with robust contingency plans against droughts and floods, among other things. There is need to build the adaptive capacity of communities and ensure that the special needs of rural smallholder farming families are addressed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About CARE<\/strong><\/p>\n Care International is a confederation of 14 member and 4 affiliate organizations working together to end poverty. In Africa CARE is working in 27 countries implementing poverty fighting development and humanitarian aid projects. In 2016 Care International reached out to 80 million people directly and 256 million indirectly. Care International focus is women and girls because we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. Website: www.care.org<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n About FANRPAN<\/strong><\/p>\n The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) is a pan-African network that provides independent evidence to inform policy processes at national and regional levels. FANRPAN\u2019s membership includes food, agriculture and natural resources (FANR) related government departments, parliamentarians, research and farmer organizations, private sector, civil society organizations and the media.\u00a0 Website: www.fanrpan.org<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n About Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n The Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust is a non-profit organisation that works in Africa to ensure women and children are put at the centre of Africa\u2019s development agenda. Through our building of networks and alliances to champion transformative change, we support local initiatives and connect multisectoral stakeholders at a regional, national and sub-national level to catalyse action that tackles institutional and social barriers to the advancement of women and children in Africa. By using our convening power the Trust amplifies the voices of women and children; promotes children\u2019s holistic development and protection, influences governance; and promote women\u2019s contributions and leadership in the Second Liberation: the economic social and political development of Africa. Website: www.gracamacheltrust.org<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more information contact: <\/strong><\/p>\n Vitumbiko Chinoko,<\/strong> CARE Southern Africa, Advocacy and Partnerships Coordinator E-mail: vitumbiko.chinoko@care.org<\/a>\u00a0 Mobile: +265996893692<\/p>\n Francis Hale,<\/strong> FANRPAN, Director – Policy Advocacy and Communications, E-mail: fhale@fanrpan.org<\/a> Mobile: +27\u00a0664 716 624<\/a><\/p>\n