ZANZIBAR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION POLICY - Kilimo

Zanzibar’s commitment to fight food and nutrition insecurity is further
reflected by the development and implementation in recent years of a number
of national policy frameworks, programmes and initiatives towards ensuring
food security and adequate nutrition for its population. In accordance with
Vision 2020 and the first generation of the Zanzibar Poverty Reduction Paper,
in 2002 and 2004 respectively RGoZ adopted the Agricultural Sector Policy
(ASP) and Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan (SP), thus initially focusing on
agricultural productivity as a key aspect of food security. The Government
is however increasingly acknowledging the multidimensional nature of food
security as shown in the recently launched Zanzibar Strategy for Growth
and Reduction of Poverty (ZSGRP or MKUZA, the Swahili acronym).
MKUZA addresses linkages between food security and nutrition and poverty
reduction in terms of food production (productivity increase), food access
(strengthening of incomes of the food insecure and poor as well as creation of
food safety nets) as well as adequate food utilisation (promoting nutritional
status of individuals).
The Zanzibar Food Security and Nutrition (ZFSN) Policy is formulated in
response to an earlier detected need for a multi-sectoral food security and
nutrition policy framework. The policy is thus directly linked to the MKUZA
and plays an important role in building, maintaining and protecting food
security and nutrition in Zanzibar. Moreover, the policy intends to assist the
Revolutionary Government in ensuring that food and nutrition security is
adequately prioritized and addressed in future development plans at both
national and district levels, highlighting the important actions that need to be
taken by the agricultural, health and other sectors and providing a framework
for inter-institutional coordination of implementation, monitoring and
evaluation.