National Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan for Zambia 2011-2015.

The development of the National Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan (NFNSP) 2011-2015 is a result of broader consultations and participation of key stakeholders including international partners, representatives of NGOs, civil societies and the private sector. The NFNSP covers 11 key strategic directions related to improving food and nutrition, and give a major priority to new multi sectoral efforts to strengthen and expand interventions related to “the First 1,000 Most Critical Days” that prevent stunting in children less than two years of age. This strategy is founded on the National Food and Nutrition Policy of 2006. The NFNSP is aligned with the global “Scale Up Nutrition” movement that calls for emphasis on well-proven, effective and low cost food and nutrition interventions. This 5-Year National Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan (NFNSP) is the first National multi-sectoral response to combat malnutrition.
The NFNSP has 5 chapters that includes: Introduction; Situation analysis of food and nutrition in Zambia (2); Scaling up as nutrition gains a higher position on the national development (3); National food and nutrition strategic plan (4); and Strategic directions, objectives, strategies, activities, outputs, and outcomes (5). This document's Introduction outlines a brief background to the development of a multi-sectoral strategy to address malnutrition in the country. It highlights the significance of the strategy, its linkage to the NFNP (2006) and the various key consultative. Chapter 2 gives a situation analysis of the food and nutrition landscape of the country describing the key challenges requiring immediate attention in improving the nutritional status of the risk population groups including malnourished mothers and children. Chapter 3 outlines the opportunities available in advancing the nutrition agenda at higher level including regional and national considerations such as national leadership and commitment, national actions based on evidence and the creation of a robust monitoring and evaluation systems to measure results and to inform programme decision, advocacy, and policy. Chapter 4 describes the consultative process used in developing the strategy and how it is linked to the vision and mission statements of the food and nutrition policy of 2006. This chapter also introduces the overall priorities of the strategic plan during its operational period. In Chapter 5, the SDs are described in detail and linked in a logical way to the rationale, SOs, strategies, and activities. This chapter also outlines outputs and outcomes to be achieved through the NFNSP 2011-2015.
Table 4 -1 lists the Strategic Directions (SDs) and Strategies of the National Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan 2011-2015, as follows: SD 1: Prevention of Stunting in Children Under-Two Years of Age: First 1000 Most Critical Days. SD 2: Increasing Micronutrient and Macronutrient Availability,Accessibility and Utilization through Improving Food and Nutrition Security. SD 3: Early Identification, Treatment, and follow-up of Severe Acute Malnutrition. SD 4: Improving Nutrition Education and Nutritious Feeding through School. SD 5: Increase Linkages among Hygiene, Sanitation, Infection Control, and Nutrition. SD 6: Food and Nutrition to Mitigate HIV and AIDS. SD 7: Nutrition Related Control and Prevention Measures of Diet Related Non Communicable Diseases. SD 8: Food and Nutrition Preparedness and Response to Emergencies. SD 9: Strengthening Governance, Capacity Building and Partnerships in Support of Food and Nutrition Interventions at all Levels. SD 10: Monitoring and Evaluating Food and Nutrition Situation, Interventions and Research to Support their Improvement and Expansion. SD 11: Expanding and Developing Communication and Advocacy Support for Food and Nutrition Interventions at Various Levels.