FAO, Mozambique Government and civil society at the closure of "Right to Food" project

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Monday (30/03) officially closed the project "Right to Food" which the Organization had implemented in Mozambique in partnership with the Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SETSAN) of the Mozambique Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MASA).

In a seminar for the official closure of the project, the FAO Country Representative, Castro Camarada, greeted the Government of Mozambique and the civil society for adopting a perspective of human rights – namely the human right to adequate food – in legislation, policies and food security and nutrition plans in the country. This had been of the main objectives of the project which, according to Camarada, "did not bring dependency but on the contrary capacity to build a country without hunger and with the guarantee that its people eat with dignity".

Both tecnicians and decision makers from the Government and civil society organizations attended the event in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. SETSAN Executive Secretary, Marcela Libombo, said that "the integration of the right to food in Mozambique has become more and more visible and today it presents a determinant approach for eradicating hunger, malnutrition and poverty".

The Executive Director of the Mozambican Movement of Rural Women, Saquina Mucavele, who also attended the event, emphasized the impacto f the Project for the organizations working with food security and nutrition, referring that "various instruments have been produced, enabling activities to go on. The project has strengthened the implementation capacity of national NGOs and supported the creation of different networks like the Movement of Rural Women which will push the promotion of this human right at local communities".

The projecto, which has been financed by the Government of Norway, was implemented between 2011 and 2015 and generally aimed at strengthening SETSAN's capacity to promote and coordinate the implementation of a right to adequate food in the country. During its implementation period, it based on principles such as non-discrimination, equity, empowerment, binding participation and prioritizing the most vulnerable people.

At the closing workshop FAO and SETSAN presented the main results of the project, a methodology for the integration of the right to food in food security and nutrition policies, an evaluation of the capacities and needs of the civil society for an ongoing implementation of this right and a study on family farming.