C-SAFE to improve resilience to food-security shocks

With systems in place and food commodities already in countries, the Consortium for Southern Africa's Food Emergency (C-SAFE) says its aid programmes are "moving full-speed ahead". In its latest situation report, the organisation said its current programmes reflected the "changing food security environment in each of the C-SAFE countries, with Zimbabwe still in the emergency mode (continued general and supplementary feeding) and Malawi and Zambia making a dramatic shift towards objectives two and three [of C-SAFE's programmes], namely, increasing productive assets ... and improving community resilience to food-security shocks". In practice this meant there would be a greater focus on nutritional and HIV/AIDS education aimed at improving and maintaining the nutritional status of vulnerable groups. This was being done through activities centred on training, and demonstrations of the use of traditional foods, methods of preparation that conserve the nutritional value of foods, and making food more palatable for chronically ill beneficiaries. "To extend food life [to ensure] decreased food insecurity, food storage systems will be improved or constructed and methods of food preservation will be introduced," C-SAFE noted. In a bid to increase the productive assets of vulnerable groups, "activities focus on introducing mitigative agricultural rehabilitation initiatives, such as the reconstruction of dams and small-scale irrigation systems for enhanced access to water" and the rehabilitation of feeder roads to improve access to markets. "Activities will be accompanied by training for natural resource management, specifically on soil fertility, erosion management and water conservation methodologies. Many of these activities will be supported by Food-for-Assets [projects]," the organisation added. In improving community resilience to food-security shocks, C-SAFE aimed to provide support to community-level risk management initiatives. "Risk management training for C-SAFE staff, partners and appropriate government representatives is planned for early December. The workshop will be conducted in Johannesburg [South Africa] by staff at the University of Cape Town Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme. This training will provide participants with information to prepare them to work directly with the communities to identify their risk, and develop mitigation and/or contingency plans to better manage their own risk to future shocks," C-SAFE explained. Given that the impact of HIV/AIDS has aggravated food shortages, brought on largely by drought and floods, "refining and enhancing [the] targeting of beneficiaries" is critical. "Early discussions in Zambia have resulted in the development of a strategy with [aid NGO] CARE to target TB [tuberculosis] patients in Livingstone with food assistance to complement clinical treatment," the organisation said.