Strategic objective is to increase access for nutrition, food security and livelihood services by 30 % by 2026.
Food insecurity in South Sudan has been worsened by insecurity and displacement of people from their homes. These factors have worsened the state of poverty among the communities with 80% of the population suffering from poverty. Malnutrition rates in South Sudan are much higher compared to WHO acceptable thresholds, with wasting reported to be at 22 percent prevalence. This is attributed to poor health conditions, sub-optimal maternal and child feeding and care practices and food insecurity.
The AFOD Nutrition, Food Security and Livelihood program component is an effort to collaborate with and support the government of South Sudan to meet the SDGs of eliminating poverty (SDG1) and reducing hunger and malnutrition (SDG2). The program component has three sub-programmes; nutrition, food security and livelihood support and strengthening resilience and adaptation to climate change.
The strategic areas of intervention include:
- Promote and improve Nutrition.
- Food security and livelihood support.
- Strengthen Resilience and promote adaptation to climate change.
Nutrition
Strategic objective: To increase access to and demand for nutrition services for children, women and other targeted persons in the counties of focus.
- Support active screening and case-finding and referral for acute malnutrition using MUAC.
- Provision of integrated quality treatment services for SAM and MAM including PLW using CMAM approach.
- Promote micronutrient supplementation and home-based food fortification approach using locally available foods to improve the adaptive
- Provide capacity building to the service providers at primary health care facilities and community level using simplified guidelines and protocols for the management of malnutrition.
- Support capacity development at the State, County and Payam levels on the assessments, planning and accountability for nutrition interventions.
- Ensure adequate supply delivery mechanism for SAM treatment and prevention programs through effective collaboration with SMOH, CHD and UNICEF/WFP
- Support capacity building of MSG on the preparation of local foods for complementary feeding for infants and young children
- Facilitate acquisition and use of hygiene kit for environmental and personal hygiene promotion.
- Scale-up CMAM and IYCF training at Payam level
- Support training of health workers and nutrition auxiliary staff on assessment and planning using simplified nutritional
- Provision of anthropometric equipment and supplies for community-based nutrition.
- Support state, county and payam level planning and reviews for nutrition
Food security and Livelihood
Strategic objective: To expand access to food security and income-generating enterprises targeting poor and vulnerable households and families in the communities of focus.
- Support periodic food security and livelihood situation analysis.
- Support development of participatory community food security and livelihood action plans
- Recruit, train and develop food security and livelihood staff.
- Facilitate advocacy and community mobilization to adopt modern agribusiness practices and farming.
- Support provision of agricultural inputs (tools, improved seeds, planting materials to vulnerable families and contact farmers
- Establish and build capacity of farmer groups and model farmers in modern agri- business and other enterprise skills
- Provide technical support, coaching and mentorship to farmers and entrepreneurs
- Build capacity of extension workers on community-based animal health
- Support the prevention and control of livestock diseases and emergency livestock disease control interventions.
- Establish livestock disease control infrastructure such as labs, dips, crashes, spray-races etc
- Train field extension workers on improved agricultural technologies including integrated pest management.
- Train farmers on Improved animal husbandry practices.
- Train farmers on improved farming practices (apiculture, climate smart agriculture, post-harvest handling, Farmer Field Schools approach, APFS, Value addition etc).
- Support Farmer institutional development (FID): farmer groups, cooperatives and associations.
- Promote animal feeds and fodder production including promotion of commercial hay production.
- Promote poultry and piggery production to empower economically marginalized women, youth and PWDs.
- Promote cross-breeding of local animals with improved breeds to upgrade local breeds.
- Support enterprise value chain development (hides, skins, milk, meat, eggs, honey and other bee products, fish etc)
- Support market linkage and provision of market information.
- Promote nutrition sensitive agriculture.
Strengthening Resilience and adaptation to climate change
Strategic objective: To strengthen resilience and adaptation capacity of communities to climate change shocks and stresses.
Strategies and interventions
- Support capacity building for community institutions on Early warning systems
- Facilitate collection of data and information on traditional Weather and Climate Early Warning Systems.
- Build the capacity of state, payam and budi disaster management committees.
- Support the development of community resilience plans (hazard specific development and Hazard specific contingency plans).
- Support crop diversification and agribusiness for households and farmers groups.
- Build capacity of farmers on improved climate smart agricultural practices.
- Support small scale irrigation for vegetable production.
- Support community based financial services, including Village Savings and Credit Associations.
- Build capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
- Promote environmental conservation and ecosystems restoration (famer managed natural tree regeneration, agroforestry etc) interventions.