National Food Policy Plan of Action (2008 – 2015)

The Plan of Action aims at translating the provisions of the National Food Policy with a multi-sectoral approach towards achieving its three core objectives namely: Adequate and stable supply of safe and nutritious food, increased purchasing power and access to food of the people and adequate nutrition for all individuals, especially women and children.
The PoA sets forth seven main subjects to reach adequate nutrition for all individuals especially women and children (NFP Objective 3). These main subjects are: long-term national plan for ensuring balanced food in building a healthy nation, supply of sufficient nutritious food for vulnerable groups, balanced diet containing micronutrients, safe drinking water and improved sanitation, safe quality food supply, adequate health status, promotion and protection of breast-feeding and complementary feeding. The key area of intervention to ensure balanced food in building a healthy nation is long-term planning for balanced food. The key area of intervention for the supply of sufficient nutritious food for vulnerable groups is enabling nutritious food at minimal costs for vulnerable groups. The key areas of intervention for a balanced diet containing micronutrients are nutrition education for dietary diversification and food supplementation and fortification. The key area of intervention for safe drinking water and improved sanitation is to achieve safe water and sanitation facilities available and accessible for all. To reach adequate health status for women and children improving child and mother health, adolescents’ and women’s general health, reducing total fertility rate and reducing neonatal, infant, child and maternal mortality rates are the key areas of intervention.
The PoA sets forth key areas of intervention and targets to reach the main objectives of the NFP. The key areas of intervention to reach adequate and stable supply of safe and nutritious food (NFP Objective 1) are ensuring efficient and sustainable increase in food production by agricultural research and extension, use and management of water resources, adequate supply and sustainable use of agricultural inputs, agricultural diversification, agricultural credit and insurance. The good management of water resources and responsible use of water will be achieved by increasing irrigation coverage, improving delivery and efficient use of safe irrigation water and reducing the cost of irrigation. The adequate supply and sustainable use of agricultural inputs will be achieved by increasing the supply of quality seeds, increasing the supply of feeds for fish and poultry farming, ensuring the timely supply and balanced use of fertilizers, ensuring that agricultural machines and implements are available and affordable prices, increasing efficiency and sustainability of agricultural land use and regulating agricultural land use for non-agricultural purposes effectively. The agricultural diversification will be achieved by increasing the production of high value crops and increasing the production of fish and livestock.
The key areas of intervention for the employment-generating income growth are income generation for rural women and disabled people, promotion of agro-based small rural industries and market-driven skill development. Increasing credit to small and marginal farmers and assuring the financial loss in agricultural production will lead to effective maintenance of agricultural credit and insurance policy.
Adequate and stable supply of safe and nutritious food will be reached by enabling efficient food markets and non-distortionary foodgrain market intervention for price stabilization. The key areas of intervention for enabling efficient food markets are physical market infrastructure development, agricultural marketing and trade, updated legislation regulating food markets and early warning system development. Whereas producer price support, public stock management and price stabilization are the key areas of intervention of enabling non-distortionary foodgrain market intervention for price stabilization.
The PoA emphasizes on different subjects to reach increased purchasing power and access to food of people (NFP Objective 2). One of the subjects of PoA to reach NFP objective 2 is transitory shock management. The key areas of intervention of transitory shock management are agricultural disaster management, emergency food distribution from public stocks, enabling environment for private food trade and stocks.
The Plan of Action shall be the guiding document for coordinating the implementation and monitoring of the National Food Policy by all responsible ministries and agencies. The document also provides a set of guidelines regarding inter-ministerial coordination, sectoral planning and budgeting.