Achievements

Since its launch in 2005, the National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme (NFPCSP) has been instrumental in building Bangladesh’s institutional and human capacities to design and implement food security policies. Thus far, major achievements of the NFPCSP include:

 

Improved policy and programming frameworks for a comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach to food security
In the past, Bangladesh’s approach to improving food security was largely focused on food availability. As a consequence, food security was primarily seen as a responsibility of the agriculture sector and of the Public Food Distribution System; important aspects related to improving the economic and physical access to food and the nutritional dimension of food security, on the other hand, were largely marginalised.

By providing technical assistance, the NFPCSP has played a major role in enhancing capacities to formulate, implement and monitor comprehensive food security and nutrition frameworks. Two outstanding achievements include the development of the National Food Policy Plan of Action (2008) and the Country Investment Plan for Food Security that was first approved in June 2010 and then updated in June 2011. These documents provide the Government and Development Partners with a consistent and comprehensive framework for addressing the availability, access and utilisation dimensions of food security across different sectors. The frameworks have also proved to be very important instruments for aligning Development Partners’ interventions with national priorities. 

Increased human and institutional capacities of the Government of Bangladesh
Capacity building is playing an important role in enabling the Government to better formulate and implement food security policies and monitor the food security situation in the country. At the start of the project, the FPMU had very limited office facilities and only 4 permanent staff with expertise in managing food stocks but who had had limited exposure in working with a comprehensive approach to food security. Today, thanks to the support provided by this programme, the agency has fully functional offices, counts 12 staff with university education in subjects closely relevant to the mandate of the FPMU (7 have completed a MSc, 2 are in the process of completing a PhD and a MPhil and other 3 are currently finalizing their MSc). The NFPCSP has also enhanced the analytical skills of staff of the FPMU and other relevant agencies through study tours and tailor made courses (about 767 hours of in-class training) in food security analysis, both in the country and abroad.

Knowledge- and dialogue-based decision making
Information plays an important role in improving food security decision making. However, successful policy making and implementation also requires achieving consensus among the different stakeholders. This implies that information-based decision making should not be separated from dialogue among stakeholders. With support from NFPCSP, the Government of Bangladesh has established policy processes that are based on both information and dialogue. This includes conducting scientific research on food security and organising regular seminars and workshops in which the Government, civil society representatives, development partners and researchers discuss findings and their implications on policy reform. So far, 44 research grants for research projects have been awarded to 83 national institutions and all research reports and about 90 research papers have been completed. In addition to this, 11 PhD Theses and 42 MS dissertations have been published. Findings from all of the research projects have been discussed in 10 large national consultative workshops and over 200 technical seminars and smaller workshops, including representatives from civil society, government, development partners, universities and research institutes. This research and dialogue has contributed to putting food security high on the national agenda, to increasing the understanding of food security among civil society and in improving dialogue between stakeholders. 16 new researches projects – identified in close consultation with the FPMU – are being commissioned to national research institutes.

Greater access to information on food security
To further facilitate and encourage the use of information in decision making, fortnightly and quarterly food security monitoring reports are regularly issued and a web-based food security information system has been developed and integrated with the new public website. These provide decision makers and the general public with immediate access to food security information. The information system allows to automatically exchange data between different agencies and automates certain reporting functions. With a similar intention, the NFPCSP has set up a physical and electronic Documentation Centre that provides easy access to essential books, documents and other reference material on food security. Already, the online Documentation Centre is the country’s biggest electronic repository on food security and is constantly expanding. This contrasts with the situation at the project start, when only a very rudimentary food security data collection system was in place, which made access to key food security documents very difficult.

Well advised decision making
In addition to building national capacities to inform decision making, when needed, the NFPCSP also provides direct policy advice to Government and Development Partners. For example, in the context of the 2007 floods and cyclone and the 2008 food price crisis, the programme provided information and advice to Government and Development Partners on crucial issues such as the National Food Budget, procurement price fixation, and management of public stocks and safety nets. Similarly, during the formulation of the Country Investment Plan, the NFPCSP played a central role in providing advice on the contents of the plan and promoting alignment with national policy and institutional frameworks.  

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