Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Member profile
Browse all members

Mr. Moussa Na Abou Mamouda

Member since
Organization: ENDA TM
Country: Senegal
Field(s) of expertise:
I am working on:

Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security in the Sahel with case studies on Senegal and Niger. I am specifically working on community coping mechanisms to ensure food security in a changing climate. These coping mechanisms include the activation of social networks and traditional institutions as well as developing indigenous technologies. One of the emerging conclusion of this work is that policy makers should learn from these community coping mechanisms to build sustainable adaptation strategies and resilience.

This member contributed to:

    • 1) With respect to the proposed outline and structure of the CoC:

      · a) Does the proposed outline of the CoC address the issues in an exhaustive and comprehensive way?

      The outline should be comprehensive enough to capture the attention of any reader from the first sentence. It has to give the rational behind the development of internationally agreed and locally adaptable CoC.

      · b) Are there any particular issues and aspects of importance that you think are not be addressed in the proposed structure?

      The proposed structure should recall the problem, its seriousness and observed social and economic consequences all in terms of numbers. The outline should include what-if situations with regard to FLW

      · c) Are there any disadvantages or gaps you see in the current structure

      The process leading to the CoC should be bottom up and not top down as it seems to be the case in your proposed structure. Instead of starting from the global level (your level), why not staring from the grassroots and then informing the global level? There may be a cultural issues and gaps to be addressed when talking about FLW since the problem is perceived differently across cultures and level of welfare.

      2) With respect to the content of the different sections of the CoC:

      · a) What are the general guiding principles that you think are important for section 2.1?

      Is it possible and useful to set up guiding principles for each of the various steps of the supply chain?

      · b) What are the specific guiding principles and practices do you think are important for sections 2.2.1(a, b& c), 2.2.2 and 2.2.3?

      The best specificity of the guiding principles should be culturally sensitive and as such, should be defined locally according to the realities of the context.

      · c) Taking into account the need to foster FLW policy coherence, which cross-cutting issues are relevant to the FLW topic, as addressed in section 2.2.4?

      Sound legislations are required to locally address the issues of FLW. Involvement of parliamentarians in setting up adequate laws is key for success.

      3) Can you provide specific examples of policies, interventions, initiatives, alliances and institutional arrangements which should be considered as best practices in FLW prevention, reduction, food recovery, repurposing and recycling?

      In Niger, the government is encouraging the creation of agro food enterprises and it appears that most of these enterprises are directly or indirectly using dried foods as a way for adding value on foods especially cereals and fruits and vegetables produced in huge quantities during harvest periods but very rare just few months after. In order to adopt drying as measure against FLW, one major challenge to addressed is related to the availability of adequate and affordable equipment as well as human resources for providing trainings to users. In collaboration with Abdou Moumouni University of Niamey, ENDA Energy is setting the scene for locally designed dryers. See our recent publications on the issueshttps://www.scirp.org/Journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=92849

      http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=169&d…

      4) How could this Code of Conduct on FLW prevention and reduction be most useful for different stakeholders, especially at national and regional levels?

      The CoC would be most useful if fully communicated and owed by all stakeholders. This could be done through consultations in which all voices could be heard.

    • >> VERSION FRANÇAISE CI-DESSOUS <<

      Dear FSN members,

      I'm doing a research on "climate change and food security in the Sahel" with case studies in Niger and Senegal. 

      One of our research question is "what is the cause of food insecurity in Maradi (southern Niger)?" So far, the answer is that the causes of food insecurity are complex to investigate but we principally came up with 3 major causes and these include: Climate variability/changes, Poverty and bad Governance. All these factors are acting together to govern food insecurity in Maradi and in Niger in general. However, it's important to note that climate variability/changes and poverty have always been part of puzzle and farmers in the Sahel have developed quite resilient socio economic mechanisms to cope and even to adapt (Climate change adaptation and food insecurity in Maradi District – Niger).

      The third factor (which is bad Governance) has been an exacerbating factor that endermined community social capital and led to many food crisis in Niger. Out of the 08 food crisis that have occurred in Niger from 1966 to 2005, bad governance and other likeminded political factors have been key triggering factors. Some examples included locust attacks in the 1966-1967, 1973-1974, 1984-1985, 1993-1994, 1996-1997, 2004-2005 food crisis (these can be prevented/avoided if governments have put the required means), military coup (1996-1997), depreciation of the CFA franc (1993-1994), closure of Niger-Nigeria border (food crisis of 1984-1985), etc.

      In short, bad governance and other political factors have greatly contributed in weakening community social protection networks and broken their resilience to food shortages. It is therefore crucial to explore how good governance could contribute in setting up better social protection for food security and nutrition in Niger and in West Africa in general. 

      Chers membres du FSN,

      Je réalise actuellement un travail de recherche sur  "le changement climatique et la sécurité alimentaire dans le Sahel" avec des études de cas au Niger et au Sénégal.

      Une de nos questions de recherche est: «Quelle est la cause de l'insécurité alimentaire dans à Maradi (Sud du Niger) ? " Pour l’heure, notre réponse à cette question est que les causes de l'insécurité alimentaire sont particulièrement complexes, mais nous retenons cependant 3 causes principales : le climat (variabilité et changement climatique), la pauvreté et la mauvaise gouvernance. Tous ces facteurs interagissent et causent l'insécurité alimentaire dans à Maradi et au Niger en général.

      Cependant, il est important de noter que les variabilités/changements climatiques et la pauvreté ont toujours existé et que les agriculteurs du Sahel ont développé des mécanismes socio-économiques assez résilients pour en faire avec voir s’adapter (Climate change adaptation and food insecurity in Maradi District – Niger).

      Le troisième paramètre, la mauvaise gouvernance, est un facteur aggravant qui ébranle le capital social et communautaire et conduit à de nombreuses crises alimentaires au Niger. Lors des huit crises alimentaires qui ont eu lieu au Niger de 1966 à 2005, la mauvaise gouvernance et d'autres facteurs politiques ont joué un rôle clé. En voici quelques exemples : attaques de criquets en 1966-1967, 1973-1974, 1984-1985, 1993-1994, 1996-1997 ; crise alimentaire 2004-2005 (qui aurait pu être évitée  si les gouvernements avaient pris les mesures nécessaires) , coup d'État militaire (ayant aggravé la crise alimentaire de 1996-1997) , dépréciation du Franc CFA (crise alimentaire de 1993-1994) , fermeture de la frontière Niger- Nigeria (crise alimentaire 1984-1985), etc.

      En bref, la mauvaise gouvernance et d'autres facteurs politiques ont grandement contribué à l'affaiblissement des réseaux communautaires de protection sociale et brisé la résistance des populations aux pénuries alimentaires. Il est dès lors crucial d’explorer la manière dont une bonne gouvernance pourrait contribuer à la mise en place d’une meilleure protection sociale pour la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition au Niger et en Afrique de l'Ouest en général.