Mogadishu, (SONNA) – A technical consultation workshop was held in Mogadishu, Somalia on January 26-28, 2023, with government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, as well as Humanitarian and Development partners, on the preparation and development of a systematic Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan (FSCPP). Director Generals and technical representatives from government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies from Agriculture and Irrigation, Planning, Investment, and Economic Development, Somalia Disaster Management Agency, Livestock Range and Forestry, Fisheries and Blue Economy, Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, as well as partners from FAO, UNICEF, and Civil Society Consortia organizations, attended the technicalworkshop.
This workshop builds on bilateral consultations held by the government over the last few months to develop Somalia’s Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan (FSCPP) under the stewardship of the Ministries of Agriculture and Irrigation; Planning, Investment, and Economic Development, and in collaboration with the World Bank and other partners through the Somalia Crisis Recovery Project (SCRP).
The consultation workshop which involved both technical and policy level government officials included technical-level collaborations and provided an opportunity for the government institutions and partners to come together to review the working draft of the plan, help refine its proposed arrangements, and build consensus on next steps and the timeline for operationalizing the plan. The FSCPP is a national plan that seeks to mitigate the impacts of acute shocks that can significantly worsen acute food insecurity conditions in the country.
The Plan development process is government-led and owned, and it allows stakeholders to contribute to the FSCPP while leveraging existing systems where possible. It also serves as a living document for building capacity and ownership of national institutions over time, and it includes three core elements, namely: Element 1: The FSCPP details the operational arrangements for continuously monitoring and quickly identifying food and nutrition security crises; Element 2: The FSCPP details the operational arrangements for convening programmatic leads in a timely way across Government, humanitarian, and development partners to assess emerging crisis risks and scale up early action; and Element 3: The FSCPP details the operational arrangements and protocolsfor convening senior officials to help collectively recognize an emerging crisis and bridge operational and funding gaps.
As part of the next steps, further follow up consultations will be held over the coming months to further refine and detail the operational arrangements as may be required– including agency specific roles and responsibilities, timelines, protocols, etc. – for monitoring food security and nutrition crisis risks, scaling up programmatic responses to prevent and mitigate food security and nutrition crisis conditions, and escalating additional financing and programmatic needs to senior decision makers.
The plan brings together preparedness elements into a cohesive operational framework to support the systematic recognition of an emerging crisis and prompt timely joined-up action across government, humanitarian, and development partners to prevent and mitigate the impacts of future FNS crises. While the FSCPP is a World Bank requirement associated with receiving support from the Early Response Financing, it extends beyond the World Bank’s engagement and represents the country’s national plan.
The plan is expected to be completed in September 2023, following formal endorsement by the Federal Government of Somalia and other relevant / major food security partners leading programmatic responses in the country.
