National Food and Nutrition Security Policy.

The Vision of the present National Food and Nutrition Security Policy is that by 2030 Timor-Leste will be free from hunger and malnutrition and Timorese people will enjoy healthy and productive lives. People in Timor-Leste will be well-fed principally from increased variety of locally produced safe and nutritious food for healthy and productive lives while witnessing carefully-managed agro-ecosystems. The Mission of the Policy is formulated as follows: «The Government acknowledges the integral role that nutrition plays in ensuring a healthy population and productive work force. Reducing malnutrition and hunger in Timor-Leste, in economically viable, ecologically sound and socially appropriate manner, is a precondition for achieving higher national development goals (SDP) that calls for a multi-sector approach under the well-coordinated political leadership at all levels».
The principles guiding the strategic actions under this policy are: Based on basic human rights including children’s rights, women’s rights and Right to Food; Based on equity, reflecting the voices of the vulnerable people including subsistent farmers; Respecting cultural and traditional values; Protecting biodiversity and environmental sustainability; Acknowledging food sovereignty; Adopting a multi-stakeholder and multi-sector approach; Encouraging local level decision making and actions; Strengthening food and nutrition security information.
The Priority Strategic Action Areas are: 1) Local nutritious food production increased and producers better linked to consumers; 2) Enhanced stability and resilience in food production and supply; 3) Safe, quality, nutritious food consistently available in food outlets throughout the country; 4) Sustainable income generating opportunities in the rural areas increased to enhance economic access to nutritious food; 5) Improved access to nutritious foods and nutrient intake by vulnerable people; 6) Improved health status of children and women; 7) Improved education, awareness and advocacy on food and nutrition security; 8) An effective integrated food and nutrition security information system in place.
The Konssantil PTS will facilitate the joint formulation and implementation of the priority programmes to ensure that needs and concerns at different levels are reflected in the decision making. Where related programmes and action plans already exist, efforts will be made to align them under the framework of Food and Nutrition Security Policy to tap synergy and avoid duplication.
The National Council on Food Security, Sovereignty and Nutrition (Konssantil) is responsible for the implementation of Food and Nutrition Security Policy. This will entail the coordination of multi-sectoral inputs provided by different government agencies and partners, and oversight to their activities. The Konssantil monitors the delivery of outputs and outcomes necessary to achieve the policy goals by tracking progress against the indicators identified in the Summary Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Matrix in Annex 2. The Konssantil is also responsible for finalising investment plans and reviewing the budget allocation concerning food and nutrition security.
The strategic actions will be translated into mutually-supporting priority programmes in the eight outcome areas. A fully-budgeted operational plan, which indicates roles and responsibilities, target groups, activities with timelines and expected outputs, will be formulated for each priority programme. A realistic investment plan will accompany the operational plans. The investment plan will be shared with relevant partners for resource mobilization.
An effective and affordable monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system is necessary in ensuring that strategic actions are achieving desired outcomes. Monitoring facilitates necessary adjustments on the implementation plan. Effective monitoring on the resource use also facilitates resource mobilization. The PTS in close collaboration with the National Statistics Office (MOF) will be responsible for establishing the monitoring and evaluation framework, monitoring and evaluating the progress, and preparing periodic implementation reports. The policy will be subject to a mid-term evaluation no later than three years after its endorsement by the Council of Ministers. An effective and timely monitoring and evaluation allows the Konssantil to reflect on what has and what has not worked and feed these lessons into future planning.