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Book (series)Evaluation of the Information on Nutrition, Food Security and Resilience for Decision Making (INFORMED) Programme
Project code: GCP/INT/245/EC
2021Also available in:
No results found.The INFORMED programme, implemented by FAO from 2015 to 2019, was designed to contribute to “increasing the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises and contributing to the reduction of food insecurity and malnutrition”. The programme’s increased focused on Early Warning for Early Action (EWEA) was very relevant to fill existing gaps with a comparative advantage for FAO in slow onset and food chain crises contexts. Promoting the use of pre-agreed plans and pre-identified anticipatory actions, the project effectively improved risk analysis and decision making, including through the Global Report on Food Crises, and increased access to appropriate financing instruments, while the EWEA country toolkit initial positive spinoffs remain to be built on. Efforts to support resilience measurement and analyses by applying the resilience index measurement and analysis (RIMA) methodology are relevant given the significant investments in resilience programming and the continuing methodological gaps. However, although RIMA provides a basis for creating evidence on resilience investments, and FAO has been an important pioneer in resilience measurement, a wider system supporting resilience analysis is needed, based on a range of methodologies, responding to the information needs of decision-makers. Also, RIMA baseline lacks sufficient detail to allow articulating the feasibility of possible response options and have a practical impact on planning decisions; it has not demonstrated its added value over pre-existing food security, nutrition and risk indicators to help target interventions, and is not well adapted as an impact evaluation tool. Assessing INFORMED results against its intention to support knowledge production and sharing, to promote the replication of good practices and circular learning, the evaluation questioned the choice of creating a new knowledge management platform versus adopting a collaborative approach building on similar initiatives’ strengths. Poor strategic choices represented a fundamental constraint to reach intended objectives, such as, an insufficient understanding of users explaining the difficulty to trace the uptake and use of knowledge products. Nevertheless, the evaluation recognized the progressive investments in knowledge management and sizeable accomplishments of a relatively small team. The evaluation suggests strengthening capacities for the production and dissemination of forecast, scenario-based early warning as a basis for early action; developing a corporate strategy for partnering to strengthen early warning system capacities at various levels; promoting the use of a toolkit of approaches and investing in a knowledge management function dedicated to capturing and disseminating lessons on the effectiveness of EWEA and resilience interventions. -
DocumentResilient Livelihoods for Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security in Areas Affected by the Syria Crisis 2014
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is closely monitoring the impact of the Syria crisis on food security, nutrition, agriculture and livelihoods in Syria and neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Assessments carried out across the affected subregion indicate that threats to food security and livelihoods are severe and growing steadily. In addition to rendering over half of Syrians poor and nearly a third food insecure, the crisis is eroding the ver y foundations of food and livelihood security in what was once a middle-income country, with a relatively high employment rate (92 percent) and growing agriculture sector. Syria’s food chain is disintegrating – from production to markets – and entire livelihood systems are collapsing. The conflict also is severely affecting economic, social and human development in neighbouring countries. With most of Syria’s 2.6 million refugees living outside of camps, host communities face intense competition for resources such as land, water and income opportunities, while costs for housing, food and other commodities soar. The humanitarian appeals for Syria and neighbouring countries are the largest in history: USD 4.4 billion in 2013 and USD 6.5 billion in 2014. As the crisis shows no sign of abating, a resilience-based approach is proving ever more crucial to meet immediate needs while helping affected populations – and the systems which support them – better absorb, adapt and recover from curr ent and future shocks emanating from the crisis. Such an approach, combining emergency and development efforts, is indispensable in the context of food and livelihood security. Behind each family pushed into poverty and hunger, systems are collapsing which need to be protected, restored and strengthened. A holistic approach is needed not only to deliver crisisaffected populations from aid dependency, but also to prevent hunger and poverty from increasing and becoming endemic. FAO’s “Resilient Livelihoods for Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security in Areas Affected by the Syria Crisis” is a five-year Subregional Strategy and Action Plan, budgeted at USD 280 million – just over a tenth of the value of agricultural losses suffered in Syria by 2012. The Strategy is a dynamic document developed over the course of agricultural programming missions to the subregion in late 2013 and early 2014, which build on rapid agricultural livelihood and food security impact assessments and initia l response plans prepared during the first quarter of 2013. With the aim to protect, restore and strengthen livelihoods and the agro-ecosystems on which livelihoods depend, the Strategy tailors short-, medium- and longer-term actions to address specific needs of the main groups affected by the crisis, including Syrian internally displaced persons (IDPs) and affected populations, refugees, returnees, host communities and national and local authorities. Activities focus on seven priority areas, which can be broadly categorized as: (i) control of transboundary animal diseases (TADs); (ii) control of plant pests and diseases; (iii) food security and natural resource information systems, disaster risk management and policy development; (iv) rural and peri-urban income generation and employment; (v) agricultural production; (vi) natural resource management; and (vii) food safety and nutrition. The Strategy aligns with national government priorities and existing regional frameworks for add ressing the Syria crisis and calls for close partnership with affected communities, national institutions, United Nations (UN) agencies, non-state actors and private-sector organizations. Agriculture cannot be an afterthought. Affected populations in the subregion need effective responses to the challenges threatening their food security and livelihoods. A resilience-based approach delivers this, while better preserving the integrity of lives, livelihoods, natural resources and critical develop ment gains achieved over the past decades. -
DocumentPlan of Action for North Sudan. Emergency response and rehabilitation for food and agriculture August 2010 – August 2012 2010
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No results found.After decades of civil conflict and associated political instability, populations throughout North Sudan have seen their livelihoods and production capacity eroded and their ability to cope with human-induced and recurrent natural disasters (floods, droughts, outbreaks of livestock diseases) worn away. There have been considerable efforts to respond to the protracted crisis, with the international humanitarian response reaching USD 1.3 billion in 2009. Despite this, millions of people continue t o face severe and chronic food insecurity. With between 60 and 80 percent of the working-age population relying on agriculture to meet their food and income needs, the sector’s importance to economic recovery and the consolidation of peace in North Sudan cannot be underestimated. In this Plan of Action (PoA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) outlines its emergency and rehabilitation programme for North Sudan in 2010–12. It does not include FAO’s long-term develop ment programme, but is designed to complement the Organization’s ongoing development activities, as well as the interventions of United Nations agencies, Government and other partners which aim to mitigate the effects of recurrent crises while addressing their root causes. The programme relies heavily on a disaster risk management approach to the complex situation in North Sudan. This approach focuses on emergency relief, such as replacing lost assets or restoring livelihoods, as well as on earl y efforts as part of risk reduction that protect and sustain livelihoods. Such interventions can often be more effective than those delayed until people are in crisis. Given the complex and protracted nature of the crisis in North Sudan, FAO’s relief and recovery programming is enhanced by interventions that not only restore, but also protect and promote livelihoods in food and agriculture. Thus, the overall purpose of the PoA for North Sudan is to improve preparedness and to make short-term res ponses in food and agriculture more effective. The proposed priorities in this PoA will help FAO, its counterparts and partners to meet shortterm needs in ways that strengthen the resilience of communities and lead to more effective and longer-term recovery. The approach is reflected in the six key areas of focus as proposed in this PoA, based on an analysis of the current situation, the main factors triggering food insecurity and assessments identifying and targeting vulnerable groups. These ar e: (i) dwindling agricultural production; (ii) reduced livestock production and productivity; (iii) the adverse effect of climate change and the conflicts created over the use of scarce natural resources and longer-term issues such as land access; (iv) economic factors that affect the livelihoods of the various groups, as well as the creation of alternative livelihood resources; (v) the need for institutional strengthening; and (vi) coordination of the international community and the assistance provided. The above priorities have been expanded into twelve sectoral programmes that detail activities to be implemented by FAO in North Sudan to achieve expected outcomes and address the specific needs identified in three regions: (i) Greater Darfur (comprising North, South and West Darfur); (ii) the Transitional Areas (Abyei, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan); and (iii) Eastern Sudan (Gedaref, Kassala and Red Sea states). The total budget for the PoA 2010–2012 is USD 45 056 468. The PoA signa ls FAO’s adoption of a more programmatic approach in its emergency and rehabilitation activities in North Sudan. The document has used a programme cycle management approach to present the situation analysis, planned response and monitoring and evaluation framework. Through this PoA and other efforts, FAO is attempting to build greater programmatic coherence with internal and external partners, in line with national food security plans and related strategy and United Nations system programming fr amework. Fundamentally, this PoA is a dynamic programming tool that may need to be adjusted, according to contingency plans, when and as the food security situation evolves in North Sudan.
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