Food security strategies

Food security strategies should address the causes and effects of food insecurity. Therefore, any food security strategy places a significant focus on the following issues:

• Environmental rehabilitation: Measures to reverse the level of land degradation and create a source of income generation for food-insecure households through a focus on biological measures, such as re-forestation and land preservation.
• Water projects: Water harvesting and the introduction of high-value crops, livestock and agro-forestry development.
• Enhancing agricultural productivity: Agriculture is considered to be the starting point for initiating the structural transformation of the economy.
• Controlling population growth: High population growth rates continue to undermine many developing countries' ability to be food secure and provide effective education, health and other essential social and economic services. The central elements of the policy focus on a multi-sector approach, improving family planning services and expanding education.
• Prevention and control of HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS is a formidable challenge to the pursuit of food security in many countries as it reduces and debilitates the productive population and society as a whole.
• Gender: Women have a substantive productive role in the rural sector, including participation in livestock maintenance and management, crop production, and the marketing of rural produce. Integration of gender perspectives in the design and implementation of economic and social policies, programmes and projects is considered central to the national food security strategy.
• Environmental sustainability: This is critical to the pursuit of food security and economic development generally. Development depends on the appropriate and sustainable use of the environment and the management of natural resources. Given the high environmental degradation in drought-prone and pastoral areas, environmental rehabilitation (soil and water conservation) is an essential element.