An analysis of policy coherence between the national pathways and existing national policies and strategies in Malawi, Ethiopia and Niger

An analysis was carried out in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria to explore policy coherence for food systems transformation. The study focused on aligning diverse policy areas to develop national pathways towards sustainable food systems. Key challenges identified include overcoming policy contradictions, inconsistencies, and trade-offs to ensure adequate food provision in an environmentally sustainable manner.

In the three countries, increasing the size of livestock herds is recognised as a priority policy objective. Livestock development is seen as important to address nutritional challenges, strengthen livelihoods and diversify agricultural development. Supporting livestock development while also meeting greenhouse gas targets requires improvements in animal health services and feed quality. In this regard, these countries recently introduced policies to address climate change adaptation and resilience by, for example, supporting farmers’ adaptive capacities, nature-based solutions, infrastructure, access to financial services and markets, and emergency preparedness. But very few aspects of these recent climate change adaptation priorities, especially those focused on supporting farmers’ skills and practices and access to inputs, are included in the national pathways.