The SADC Heads of State and Governments Summit in August, 2013 in Lilongwe, Malawi directed Ministers responsible for Agriculture and Food Security and Ministers of Health to jointly meet to discuss and agree on strategies to increase food production, food fortification and nutrition. The directive was based on the evidence presented to the Summit that showed that food and nutrition in security in the Region is still high with child stunting levels as high as 50 % in some countries and population experiencing food insecurity averaging 15 million people per year since 2004. It was for these reasons that this SADC Food and Nutrition Strategy was developed. The goal of this Strategy is to significantly reduce food and nutrition insecurity in the Region by 2025. This will be achieved by:

(i) Promoting availability of food through improved production, productivity and competitiveness;

(ii) Improving access to adequate and appropriate food in terms of quality and quantity;

(iii) Improving the utilisation of nutritious, healthy, diverse and safe food for consumption under adequate biological and social environment with proper health care; and

(iv) Ensuring stable and sustainable availability, access and utilisation of food. The implementation mechanism of the Strategy will be aligned to the general principles of  the RISDP,  the Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), the SADC Health Policy Framework, the Orphans, Vulnerable Children and Youth (OVCY) Strategy, the Maseru Declaration on HIV and AIDS, amongst others.

Specifically, the main guiding principles which will apply are:

(i) Value addition–ensure that the interventions to be spear-headed at the regional level will be limited to those that clearly add value or generate solutions to national initiatives;

(ii) Broad participation and consultation–the implementation of the Strategy must be based on broad participation and consultation to ensure ownership and commitment at all levels; and

(iii) Subsidiarity (Suitability of implementation level)–the implementation of the Strategy will also recognize the need to ensure that programmes and activities and associated structures are delivered at levels where they can be best handled and managed. The Secretariat will promote partnerships with other regional institutions outside SADC structures to facilitate the implementation of the Strategy.

The implementation of the Strategy will require resources in the form of human, material, technical and financial resources. Member States and other stakeholders is necessary to ensure the development of satisfactory, comprehensive and complementary national food and nutrition security policies and strategies. The SADC Secretariat will facilitate the execution, monitor ing and evaluation of the implementation of the Strategy.