Food systems: Enhancing resilience and food security among vulnerable populations through risk-informed, community-driven, integrated and sustainable approaches
Niger is a landlocked country in the Sahel with nearly 80 percent of its population living in rural areas, faces chronic food insecurity exacerbated by climate change, land degradation, and socio-economic challenges. The WFP Niger's Integrated Resilience Programme addresses these issues in partnership with UNCCD, UNEP, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, local, national and regional partners by rehabilitating degraded land, improving agricultural practices, and providing social safety nets. This practice has been carried out since 2014 in around 2,000 villages and continues to evolve based on community needs and environmental conditions.
The approach incorporates community-based risk assessments to understand vulnerabilities and capacities within communities. The programme aims to promote the capacities of communities to absorb shocks, adapt to risk, transform livelihoods and achieve sustained food security. The programme piloted innovative financing through the Food Security Climate Resilience Facility (FoodSECuRE), which provides flexible funding based on climate forecasts to support anticipatory actions. It also promoted scalable technologies like zaï pits and composting to enhance productivity.
In 2022-2023, 80% of targeted villages in Niger where the Integrated Resilience Programme has been implemented, no longer require humanitarian assistance during the lean season. This represents more than half a million people annually, leading to a total reduction of 54 million USD in assistance needs. Findings showed they have restored natural resources, increased farm revenues, reduced migration and conflict over scarce resources, and improved education and nutrition.
In partnership with FAO, UNOSAT co-developed dynamic Risk and Vulnerability Mapping Dashboards for the Lao PDR and Timor-Leste to strengthen agricultural resilience and food security in the face of climate shocks. These tools visualise multi-hazard exposure, socio-economic vulnerability, and coping capacity at the district level, enabling governments to identify risk hotspots, prioritise interventions, and implement evidence-based policies, supporting anticipatory action and improved resource allocation, and local capacity-building. This practice demonstrates how risk-informed decision-making can accelerate progress on the SDGs, particularly in climate-vulnerable, agriculture-dependent communities.
WFP and IFAD work together in enhancing access to financial services at the regional level through the Green Climate Fund project, the Africa Integrated Climate Risk Management Programme, in the Sahel region of West Africa. By combining risk reduction activities such as sustainable agriculture and soil restoration with access to financial tools, participants not only increase adoption of these solutions that contribute to the SDGs, but also strengthen their resilience to climate shocks. This approach enhances preparedness, reduces vulnerability to climate shocks, and protects communities from the resulting financial impacts, driving progress towards the SDGs.
The Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia) has been experiencing severe droughts, with the 2020-2023 period marking the most severe drought in 40 years. This has led to significant food insecurity and the risk of famine in some areas. To address these challenges, over 40 practitioners participated in a series of expert roundtables, applying a systems lens to explore and unravel the complexities of drought and food insecurity in the region. UNDP partnered with IGAD and AUC in this initiative with the goal to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying issues and leverage foresight to co-create pathways for action towards a drought-free and food-secure Horn of Africa. This process led to an enhanced understanding of system drivers and leverage points along with foresight methodologies by those involved. A proposed set of solutions for conflict resolution, natural resource governance, sustainable agriculture, and economic policies was agreed, which provides the potential to disrupt patterns of food insecurity and pave the way for enduring change towards building resilience and averting future famine in the Horn of Africa.The Process Quick Start Guide: A hindsight-insight-foresight approach to working with multidimensional risk provides insights and lessons learned.