Promote healthy diets and contribute to preventing all forms of malnutrition from more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems. In particular, the subprogramme aims to strengthen members state governments and local stakeholders’ capacity to mainstream nutrition in their production interventions in agriculture and food systems to improve the availability, affordability and consumption of safe and nutritious food to increase the quality of children’s and women’s diets for the prevention of malnutrition.

Status of the sub-programme
On going

Major results

SET-UP AND PLANNING

The project document for the subprogramme was successfully approved. The subprogramme became operationally active in April 2021 and a subprogramme Task Force was also established.

Introductory Task Force meetings were held with FAO country representatives and regional and technical officers to present the subprogramme objectives, strategy and work plan.

The sub-programme team was set up at the global level liaising on a regular basis with theeight country focal points (i.e. Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan and Timor-Leste).   

The subprogramme is active at global, regional and country level, to raise awareness of nutrition and to support the rollout of FAO Nutrition Strategy, in close collaboration with technical units and development partners. An analysis of the finance landscape for nutrition-sensitive investments (domestic and external) was conducted for the eight countries and preliminary results were discussed with some of the countries. In addition, a costing tool, has been developed and tested in one country for use during the implementation of the subprogramme.

Collaboration was established with global and national business and civil society networks and/or institutions, through the drafting of subprogramme agreements in progress, to focus on the component of capacity development on mainstreaming nutrition, drawing on theirextensive outreach and expertise.

CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

Several challenges were experienced as a result of COVID-19 and countries context, including:

• Travel and movement restrictions due to the pandemic,
• Political instability or climate related shocks and stressors in some targeted countries.

Mitigation of the challenges:

• Digital trainings and virtual meetings,
• Postponement of meetings/activities, when required
• Revision of activity timelines and rescheduling as applicable.
• Alignment with in-country priorities to ensure optimal use of human and financial resources