Civil society calls for bigger role in food security issues

NGOs in Southern Africa say they can contribute to strengthening food security but have been ignored by regional governments. "Civil society organisations have an advantage over government bodies, as they are based within communities, they work closely with the people and are often the first to access information on [impending] food security disasters," said Tobias Takavarasha, a Zimbabwe-based agricultural economist. Churches, in particular, have played a key role in providing relief to communities in the region struggling with four years of successive droughts and poor harvests. Lack of NGO participation was identified as one of the major weaknesses in food security policies at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) workshop last week on 'Enhancing Civil Society Participation in SADC Food Security Processes'. The discussion was organised by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN) in collaboration with the Overseas Development Institute and the SADC's Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network. An estimated 12 million people in six countries will be food insecure until early next year, and SARPN has argued that a more coordinated civil society role and greater cooperation with national and regional governments was long overdue. "When policies around food security issues are debated at SADC, NGOs often do not know who to approach - there is lack of coordination," explained Alfred Hamadziripi of SARPN. Civil society could play "a very important role in evidence collection on issues such food insecurity, and influence and lobby policies on access to safe food, and nutritional value of food available on the ground," he noted. "It is for governments to appreciate the gap NGOs fill between policy development and implementation," Hamadziripi pointed out. Acknowledging their potential role, Zambia's Agriculture Minister, Mundia Sikatana said Southern African NGOs should become more proactive to ensure that their voices were heard on food security policy issues in the region. "NGOs should organise themselves into a single body on food security issues, because now we often don't know who to get in touch with," he commented. "Civil society can make a tremendous contribution, whether it is in an advisory capacity, or with research or sensitising the government or community on issues." According to Takavarasha, SADC was currently debating a proposal to create a permanent desk for a civil society representative in its secretariat.