Attachments
Mark Caulfield, Esther L. Achandi, Jim Hammond, Esther Omosa, Ronnie Ahumuza, Andrea Spray, Paula Dominguez-Salas and Emily Ouma.
Summary
There is increasing recognition that achieving food security and good nutrition requires coordinated multisectoral action. The causes of malnutrition are multifaceted and often interlinked. To improve food security, a good understanding of the different dimensions in the food system and food environment is important to prioritize intervention points. The concept of the “food system” has become an organizing narrative in recent years, with UN agencies and national governments developing food systems action plans. There is however a gap at finer-grained spatial levels: there are few guidelines on how to implement food systems thinking at the more local levels, guiding local decision making.
This report presents the implementation for the first time of the Food Systems, Environments, and Nutrition: Structured Evidence Framework (FoodSENSE Framework). The framework is designed to be used at subnational levels, guiding the description of the food system, food environment, food security and nutritional outcomes. Through application of the framework and a stakeholder engagement process, constraints to improving food and nutrition security can be identified and prioritized, groups of people requiring specific support identified, and potential solutions shortlisted.
The main issues contained within the framework are illustrated in Figure S1. Information is collected from secondary sources such as household surveys and from primary sources including focus group discussions, key informant interviews; and from stakeholder evaluations during a workshop. Information is synthesized into a standardized reporting format, and issues prioritized through a consultative process. An excel-based tool is used to match challenges with potential food and nutrition-related interventions, which are then put to stakeholders for evaluation. A clear chain of evidence is thus presented for each intervention.
The framework was implemented in three districts of Central Uganda (Masaka, Mukono, Mpigi), under the CGIAR Initiative on Sustainable Animal Production (SAPLING). This report describes the implementation in Masaka District, specifically in Nyendo-Ssenyange, Kabonera, and Bukoto sub-counties. From the study, bottlenecks hampering food and nutrition security were identified regarding markets and value chains, social and cultural norms, nutritional knowledge, public infrastructure, hygiene, and farm production. Consumption of nutrient-dense food was low, with stunting evident amongst children and overweight or obesity prevalent among adults, especially women. Both stunting and being overweight are consistent with over-consumption of low-nutrient density foods. Women, children, and the poorer households were particularly vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity. The ranking of vulnerable groups, food system aspects, and actual food consumption challenges is summarized in a series of score cards shown in Figure S2.
To address these challenges, five priority activities were proposed by participants in a workshop comprised of key stakeholders from Masaka. These activities included the support for the development and organization of farmer groups; a food safety awareness campaign; training and capacity building for food safety along the value chain; the installation of community food preservation and storage facilities; and conditional cash transfers to households. It is expected that by undertaking these activities, multiple inter-connected bottlenecks to food and nutrition security would be addressed. To facilitate this process, stakeholders recommended the mapping of existing rural development programs, projects, and actors, engagement with the stakeholders involved in these activities, the building of evidence with improved data, and tapping into existing governmental programs. Further follow up on the findings and recommendations are anticipated by local stakeholders.