Official launch of the Multisectoral Strategic Plan for Food Security and Nutrition in Burundi

Photo: (c) RTNB

The Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, Déo Bède Mpfubusa, officially launched the 2^nd generation Multisectoral Strategic Plan for Food Security and Nutrition (PSMASAN II) on behalf of the Prime Minister.

This official launch of the PSMASAN II 2019-2023 was coupled with the mobilization of different actors around the task of consolidating an integrated multisectoral and multi-actor approach under the theme of: “Together for Food Security and Nutrition, the Guarantee of Productive Human Capital and Development”.

The activities relating to the PSMASAN II form part of a process of improving the nutritional situation of the Burundian population, thus guaranteeing the productive human capital and sustainable socio-economic development to which the Government of Burundi is committed. According to Richmond Tiemoko, representing the United Nations at the meeting, this launch marks a new beginning in the Burundian government’s commitment to improve the nutrition and food health of the Burundian people.

Richmond Tiemoko welcomed the government’s commitment to nutrition in the 2018-2027 National Development Plan. He noted that the PSMASAN II comes 10 years prior to the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and thus offers an opportunity to achieve SDG2.

According to Richmond Tiemoko, the aim of SDG2 is to eradicate hunger, ensure food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. He made a point of highlighting the fact that the PSMASAN II will be implemented during the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2027) whereby Member States have made a 10-year commitment to ensure the sustainable and consistent implementation of policies and programmes aimed at reducing malnutrition and to increase investment in this regard. “Negotiation between public and private partners is necessary to come up with innovative forms of financing that can ensure the success of the PSMASAN II,” Richmond Tiemoko continued.

He added that the UN system in Burundi was committed to supporting the government in its efforts to achieve the “zero hunger” and “zero malnutrition” SDGs. For his part, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office and representing the government in these activities indicated that, as everywhere else, nutrition problems in Burundi were multifaceted and required a multi-sectoral and multi-actor response at different levels.

“Mindful of the need for a holistic vision and complementarity of actions in favour of nutrition, the Government of Burundi has developed a multisectoral strategic document for 2019-2023 that incorporates new strategies adapted to the current context and which reflects the political will to put nutrition at the heart of development actions in Burundi,” explained Bède Mpfubusa. The vision of this PSMASAN II is as follows: “A Burundi in which every individual has enough to eat in terms of quality and quantity and enjoys both sufficiently productive human capital and sustainable development”.

• Read more: Official launch of the 2^nd generation Multisectoral Strategic Plan for Food Security and Nutrition – RTNB