Grenada Food and Nutrition Security Situation Analysis, 2012.

The present Food and Nutrition Security Situation Analysis is informed by the desire to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty. In particular, the Analysis provides information concerning the Grenada Food and Nutrition Security Policy and the Plan of Action to Implement the Policy. The analysis focused on the current and past food and nutrition security situation and on food availability, food access, food utilization and nutritional adequacy, and stability in food supplies and access.
In the first Chapter the current food and nutrition security in Grenada is analysed. At first the Chapter lays down provisions for food availability. It is underlined that at the national level Grenada may be considered food secure. However, significant transitory food and nutrition insecurity exist at the household level and among vulnerable groups. To improve the situation of food availability, the following challenges shall be taken into consideration: 1) Macroeconomic Challenges to Food Availability are defined as follows: i) Mobilizing budgetary financing for the increasing net trade deficit for agricultural products; ii) Compensating for potential loss of revenue from measures to reduce food imports, and tariff reductions on imports to reduce cost and to comply with trade liberalization and other international trading agreements; iii) Mobilizing development financing for interventions to improve domestic food availability. 2) Resource Management Challenges are proposes as follows: i) Preservation and optimization of limited resources for domestic food production (land, marine, forestry, water); ii) Adopting environmentally and ecologically sustainable practices for the use of physical resources. 3) Trade Related Challenges are envisaged as follows: i) Increasing exports of agricultural products to increase foreign exchange earnings; ii) Accessing development financing available through the various regional and international trading agreements; iii)) Protecting the domestic production enterprises from unfair trading practices and cheap, poor quality imported products; iv) Compliance with international standards and health and safety regulations for market access to international markets; v) Managing transportation and distribution logistics to regional and international markets; 4) Producer and Production Related Challenges: i) Consolidation and cooperation to achieve greater economies of scale; ii) Postharvest systems; iii) Marketing support (product development, promotion, market research, market information, marketing infrastructure.
Section 2 of Chapter 1 deals with vulnerability to inadequate food access. It has been found that the groups that are most likely to be vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity are: i) single headed households; ii) migrants; iii) persons living with hiv/Aids; iv) the elderly who care for children; v) Households that fall below the poverty line; vi) Children and adolescents with little education; vii) Youth without employment.
The third section of Chapter 1 provides for food utilization. It is argued that consumption pattern has changed with changing food supply – local products, that are generally nutrient dense are being sidelined for imported processed foods that are generally charged with nutrients –sugars and saturated fats – that are associated with Chronic Non – Communicable Diseases. The challenge is to reverse this trend.
Section 4 deals with stability in food availability and access. Grenada’s stability in food availability and access is conditioned by changes due to climate variability and change and shocks from natural hazards occurring beyond its borders. Hurricane Ivan and Emily and the 2009 drought have highlighted the problem of food stability and has encouraged the government and others to work together to address this threat.
The second Chapter provides an analysis of the policy and programmes in place to address the concerns of food and nutrition security as follows; 1) Food and nutrition security policies and programmes ; 2) Relevant sector policies and programmes; 3) Overarching development and poverty reduction policies; 4) International treaties relevant to food security. The analysis of these programmes was conducted to better understand the current situation so as to design actions to address the policy gaps.
he third Chapter examines the enabling environment for building an institutional framework for action. It lays down provisions relating to stakeholders institutions and organizations, such as the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, other secondary stakeholders, such farmers associations, fishermen associations, National Food Security Committee and the Grenada Food and Nutrition Council. It is hoped that this analysis shall pave the way for the establishment of an institutional framework for the effective implementation of Grenada’s Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Action Plan.
The text consists of 5 Chapters as follows: Introduction (1); Current Food and Nutrition Security in Grenada (2); The Policy and Programme Environment for Food and Nutrition Security (3); The Current Institutional Environment for Food and Nutrition Security (4); Final Conclusions (5).
The text consists of 12 Chapters as follows: Background and Context (1); Review of Agriculture Sector Performance (2); Description of Programmes and Justification for Priorities (3); Results Framework (4); Cost Evaluation and Financing Plan (5); Financial and Economic Analysis (6); Implementation Mechanism (7); Policy Implications (8); Safeguard Measures (9); Institutional Assessment (10); Monitoring and Evaluation (11); Risk Assessment (12).