Strategies and Actions to Promote Food and Nutrition Security

 The objective of this study was to determine the strategies and actions required to promote food and nutrition security and accessibility of the population to an adequate, equitable, healthy and desirable food basket.

 This was a qualitative study. The data were collected through literature review and individual interviews with policy-makers, planners and managers involved in food and nutrition security. The most important determinants of food insecurity in the country were determined using the Delphi method. MAXQDA10 software was used for data analysis.

 Based on the views of the interviewees, the most important factor influencing food and nutrition security was found to be economic access to food. This was followed by four other factors, namely, income gap; lack of a specific authority responsible for food and nutrition security at the national level; poverty and low family incomes; and not paying sufficient attention to sustainability in food production. Strategies suggested to promote food and nutrition security included physical access to food, economic access to food, food safety, access to micronutrients, promoting nutrition culture and literacy, access to food and nutrition services, and sustainable food production.

 Economic access to food, i.e., sufficient purchasing power of the people, is currently an important factor in determining food and nutrition security in a population. Food and nutrition policies should be developed in a way as to ensure increased economic access to food, sustainability in food production, production of healthy foods, and promoting the population’s food and nutrition culture and literacy.