Botswana uses the priority areas of the Southern African Development Community’s Food and Nutrition Security Strategy to guide the implementation of nutrition and agricultural production initiatives and programmes. The draft Revised National Policy on Sustainable Agricultural Development and Transformation has also integrated nutrition. It seeks to catalyse sustainable agriculture by transforming smallholder agriculture into a highly productive, efficient, competitive and sustainable system. The Government acknowledges that effective governance and relevant policies can accelerate the transformation of food and agricultural systems while sustainably reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

Despite having made little progress in malnutrition-related multisectoral interventions and coordination, plans are under way to form or strengthen partnerships between the Government and relevant stakeholders to tackle food security and nutrition capacity gaps and align country priorities. This is important as agricultural policies and programmes usually cut across several ministries and involve various stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of integrated policies. Context-specific multisectoral and multistakeholder strategic frameworks should be implemented at the subnational and national levels in alignment with national priorities, as well as regional and global aspirations.

Nutrition capacity is limited in Botswana, particularly in nonhealth ministries. The following strategies should therefore be implemented to build and strengthen country capacity: the provision of evidence-based knowledge on the role, constraints and mechanisms of capacity-building in food security and nutrition; the design and implementation of context-specific capacitybuilding activities within the country’s food security and nutrition environment (policies and programmes), alongside collaboration with relevant stakeholders to increase the impact of such policies and programmes on the ground.

Botswana is not on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) nutrition targets. The COVID-19 pandemic and its response strategies have worsened the situation by disrupting food security, nutrition and health systems. The Government plans to implement context-specific multisectoral and multi-stakeholder subnational and national strategic frameworks to prioritize nutrition on the development agenda and build capacity (e.g. SUN focal point(s) and members of the MSP for nutrition) to develop strategic partnerships on policy reforms. Combined interventions and the institutionalization of nutrition expertise in non-health sectors can improve the nutritional status of population groups.

Botswana is committed to tackling malnutrition in a more sustainable and multisectoral manner, which is evident through its recognition of the role and responsibility of all relevant sectors in improving nutrition and its integration of nutritional objectives into a new policy and investment plan.