NGOs plan long-term regional food security programme

A consortium of NGOs has launched a programme to build long-term food security in three southern African countries. The Consortium for Southern Africa Food Security Emergency (C-SAFE), a regional food shortage mitigation initiative by World Vision International (WVI), Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and CARE, hopes to continue reaching vulnerable households over the next five years. With initial project funding of US $114.5 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), C-SAFE has targeted the three countries most affected by the current crisis - Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. "[A] benefit is that C-SAFE takes a 'developmental relief' approach in its programming. Assistance will not end with the emergency but rather, C-SAFE emphasises the importance of support to recovery and long-term food security, including mitigation from the impact of future shocks," said Steve Goudswaard, manager of the C-SAFE regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa. "At the moment we're focused on the emergency, but we recognise that the underlying factors contributing to this crisis will not go away after the drought ends. It will take a persistent and joint effort to address those issues for years to come," Goudswaard added. "It's the first time in the history of PVO [Private Voluntary Organisations] collaboration that we are working together on this scale," said Paul Macek, CRS Regional Emergency Representative, and one of the three members of C-SAFE's Steering Committee based in Johannesburg. "CARE, CRS and WVI have worked together in a consortium format before, either around an issue or in response to an emergency in a single country [such as the Ethiopia crisis in 2000]; but never have the three largest American food-aid PVOs collaborated in a large-scale regional effort such as C-SAFE," he said. Amy Sink, of USAID/Malawi, told IRIN that "although the goals and objectives of the programme are the same in the region, the activities are different [from country to country]". She added that C-SAFE was initially a three-year programme running from October 2002. "In Malawi they're focusing on three major components: one on supplementary feeding to increase and maintain the nutritional status of children and lactating women; the other component is to target those who are still vulnerable but through different methods [such as free food distribution and increased market access]. "The third component will be direct support to HIV/AIDS affected households. Supplementary feeding has already started on a small scale," Sink added. Nick Osborne, country director for CARE in Malawi, said C-SAFE has been delivering food assistance since January of this year. "C-SAFE expects to distribute 160,000 mt of [food aid] in 2003, concentrating its efforts on Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the three countries most affected by this crisis," he said. C-SAFE would monitor the constantly changing scenarios in each of the three countries and adapt its programmes to the needs. "Just as importantly, the initiative will allow the partners of the consortium to work closely to improve their response to food security issues in HIV/AIDS programming. The beauty of C-SAFE is in the flexibility it will provide to the PVOs. An additional pipeline means a better commodity mix and more flexibility to ensure that needs are met. Coordination between all the food aid players will be the key to a successful programme," a C-SAFE statement added.