WFP adopts strategic plan, targets women, refugees

According to a statement circulated to the media yesterday and signed by WFP country director and representative, Sarah Gordon-Gibson, the plan has been developed based on an inclusive and thorough consultative process with both governments for Mainland and Zanzibar, communities, donors, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, International Financial Institutions, and the private sector.

She said in the statement that the plan is aligned with the government’s Five-Year Development Plan for the Mainland, and the government of Zanzibar’s Medium-Term Development Strategy; various sectoral strategies and plans; as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework, 2022-2027.

“The plan also targets at strengthening national capacities to ensure sustainability and ownership, as well as embracing a more localized and multi-dimensional response, while continuing our humanitarian support to refugees. Emphasis has been put on the empowerment of women and young people,” said Gibson.

At a total budget of $363 million, the plan reflects the first step towards a longer-term approach, to enable Tanzania to realize its 2050 National Development Vision and move to an upper middle-income country, by increasingly investing in human capital while sustaining the economic growth, and this Plan is a first step towards that direction.

She said the Plan is under the overall framework of the five elements of the food system (from production to aggregation, processing, distribution, and consumption), and will support the economic, social, and environmental issues of food and nutrition security for the people WFP serves.

Building on the investments, over the next five years, WFP will be: promoting durable solutions and enhancing protection for refugees, along with supporting host communities; strengthening systems for resilience, disaster preparedness and response and addressing causes of all forms of malnutrition.

“The plan further targets at supporting the implementation of a national home-grown school feeding model;building the capacity of smallholder farmers and improving access to market;; enhancing climate change adaptation and;

Environmental restoration and procuring locally and providing logistics services for our operations in Tanzania and neighbouring countries, leading to a considerable investment into the local economy,” said Gibson.

Minister of President’s Office- Public Service and Good Governance George Simbachawene said Tanzania is making progress in key human development indicators, and has graduated to lower-middle income country status two years ago.

He said the strategic plan comes at the right time to compliment the government's efforts in realizing true people centered development that includes food and nutrition security, which is at the heart of the World Food Programme’s mandate.

“The government is confident that the strategic plan will contribute to attracting solutions on social and environmental challenges, including poverty, high levels of malnutrition, low agriculture productivity, gender inequality, and the impact of climate change to vulnerable communities such as refugees,” said Simbachawene.