Zimbabwe National Nutrition Strategy, 2014-2018.

The Zimbabwe National Nutrition Strategy (NNS) for 2014-2018 was developed following a wide consultative process of all stakeholders to food and nutrition issues in government, private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGO), UN, community-based organisations and community at large. The first objective of the strategy is to operationalize Commitment V of the Food and Nutrition Security Policy which states that the Government of Zimbabwe is committed to ensuring nutrition security for all through the implementation of evidence-based nutrition interventions that are integrated within a broad public health framework including health services, water and sanitation. The second objective is to contribute towards making further progress against the other scaling up Nutrition targets. The Strategy is divided as follows: Structure of the Strategy; Vision, Mission and Guiding Principles; Environmental Scan; Key Result Areas; Client Needs and Problem Analysis; Stakeholder Analysis; Policy Requirements; Goals; Strategies, Assumptions and Risks; Implementation Plan; Strategic Results Chain and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework; Resource Requirements. Annexes deal with: Glossary of Terms; References; Detailed Activities, Annual Output Targets and Costs (pags. 8 and 9).
The NNS will guide individual sectors in mainstreaming nutrition into the sector plans which will be developed and or reviewed in due course. Notably the NNS is not a road map for a single ministry or department since it is multi-sectoral in nature. However, it is a given that the main driver of the strategy will be the MOHCC through the NND. In light of this, the NNS was developed using a highly participatory bottom-up process involving all sectors starting in June 2013 and ending in December 2013. VISION AND MISSION A vision of “a Zimbabwe free from hunger and malnutrition” and a mission to “implement evidencebased nutrition interventions that are integrated within a broad multi-sectoral collaboration framework” serve as the NNS' fundamental guides in establishment of the country's strategic objectives. To this end, the NNS emphasises prevention of malnutrition especially focusing on addressing stunting during the first 1,000 days of life together with a broader mandate to address malnutrition problems affecting the other age-groups of children 2 years and above, adolescents and adults, both females and males, rural and urban, poor and wealthy (pags. 8 and 9).
The ten Guiding Principles of the strategy are: G.P. 1: Nutrition is a basic human right and will be safeguarded for all age groups and social and economic strata. G.P. 2: Evidence-based programming: The NNS will prioritise investments in universally accepted high-impact nutrition interventions to maximise results from limited resources. Optimal maternal and child nutrition behaviours will be a top priority. G.P. 3: Coordinated action across multiple sectors: The NNS strengthens collaboration across sectors, minimising duplication, and fosters accountability towards a shared goal of nutrition security. G.P. 4: Community empowerment and participation: Communities as rights holders should be empowered to prioritise and respond to their nutrition challenges, barriers and bottlenecks. G.P. 5: Overcoming barriers to the uptake of optimal maternal and child nutrition behaviours: Addressing knowledge gaps and promoting sustainable nutrition social behaviour change will remain a core cross-cutting strategy for the NNS. G.P. 6: Life-cycle approach: key nutritional impact towards reducing stunting is achieved by interventions reaching children in their first 1,000 days of life. G.P. 7: Care: the NNS recognises the need for nutrition services to be provided in an integrated manner that links health facility care and support with community based nutrition services. G.P. 8: Ensuring equity and inclusiveness: The NNS ensures that nutrition needs are addressed to all the population (including poor, gender, age, race, etc.). G.P. 9: Emergency preparedness and risk mitigation are central to nutrition security: The NNS recognises the role and impact of climate change related disasters on nutrition security and incorporates strategies that ensure early warning, emergency preparedness and risk mitigation. G.P. 10: Good governance for nutrition security: The NNS defines clear roles and responsibilities and fosters accountability of multi-sectoral actors at various levels from national down to community level (pags. 8 and 9).