WFP reaffirms its commitment to end hunger in Namibia
The World Food Programme (WFP) in Namibia is launching its five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP), which will guide the country office’s activities from 2017–2022. Its central focus will be supporting the Government of Namibia’s efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 especially through the vehicle of SDG 17, which promotes partnerships as a mechanism for progress in implementing the SDGs.
Namibia is currently facing significant food security challenges. High rates of malnutrition, stunting and unemployment — combined with three years of consecutive drought — have left a population that needs support. The Zero Hunger Strategic Review conducted by the Government provided some explanation for this. It showed that fragmented social safety net systems and lack of policy coherence are keeping Namibia from achieving Zero Hunger. Furthermore, it highlighted a lack of strong evidence as the basis for social assistance programming, and recommended strengthening beneficiary management and monitoring and evaluation capacity.
Therefore, the CSP was designed to solve these problems with two strategic outcomes. The first states that vulnerable populations in Namibia are enabled to meet their food and nutrition needs throughout the year, while the second states that Government policy dialogue and programme design in Namibia is informed by evidence and enhanced knowledge of hunger issues. Under these outcomes, WFP will provide support to the Government through implemented food-based safety net programmes such as school feeding, an urban safety net programme and expanded emergency response mechanisms. This support will include improving beneficiary registration, food management and monitoring systems and food and nutrition security analysis by providing targeted expertise where needed. It will also encompass capacity development activities to ensure the sustainability of these improvements. It will focus on evidence building so that responses are based on solid knowledge and tested responses. Furthermore, it will support coordination amongst these programmes and responses, especially in the form of policy development.
One of the CSP’s central strengths is its alignment with key national policies and frameworks such the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP 5) and the Zero Hunger Roadmap. This is due to extensive government consultations and a mutual commitment to ending hunger with a focus on nutrition-sensitive planning and gender sensitivity.
A mid-term review of the CSP will take place in 2019 and a final review in 2022 to fully unpack what has been achieved and identify opportunities for further improvement, which include the adjustment of targets, resource needs and forecasts if necessary.
With the approval of the CSP, the Government and WFP now have a clear outline on how they will work together over the next five years to ensure that there is Zero Hunger in Namibia.
Learn more about WFP’s work in Namibia
