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BSF Strategy for the period 2001-2011
During the second phase, efforts have continued to reinforce the programmatic nature of BSF.JP and to strengthen the contribution of BSF projects, programmes or components to household food and nutritional security, poverty alleviation and empowerment of targeted beneficiaries - due account being taken of the provisions of the new BSF Act due to come into force in early 1999. From 1996 onwards, the strategy of the BSF.JP has been continuously debated and refined by beneficiaries, participating agencies, the BSF Secretariat and IFAD.The following are the main features of the strategic thrust of the second phase of BSF.JP:
- Orientation towards household food and nutritional security as the main element of the BSF.JP thrust.
- Attention to local governance and strengthening the capacity of civil society. Efforts will be vigorously pursued to make civil society more accountable (share with local governments).
- Introduction of a new dimension into the Joint Programme, namely, improvement of the human resource base.
- Coupling of BSF.JP projects or components financed by grants with IFAD's agricultural and rural development projects. Particular services, provided as part of the BSF.JP grants, are likely to improve the translation of income increments achieved by agricultural loan projects into improved food and nutritional security.
- The BSF.JP approach will be oriented towards a comprehensive, integrated, participatory and multisectoral approach to enhance and strengthen household food security, nutritional status, local governance, and the capacity of civil society. Greater emphasis will be placed on evolving towards a process approach with built-in flexibility and continuity.
- Comprehensive participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) will be adopted within the context of the IFAD/BSF.JP project cycle.
- A situation analysis prepared during the preliminary inception phase will lay the groundwork for the identification of critical obstacles and activities and will be used as a reference point for project evaluation exercises.
- A food security and nutrition-based approach to M&E will be adopted. The strategy called for intensified efforts to improve the M&E exercises through inclusion of important elements such as nutritional surveillance, assessment of projects impact on beneficiaries, cost-effectiveness, sustainability and replicability of project activities.
- Efforts to enhance communication mechanisms will be pursued at all levels to remove implementation bottlenecks and effectively followup on the recommendations of supervision missions.
In view of the new Act for BSF approved at the Belgian Parliament in 1999 and confirmed by the King of Belgium in April 2000, a new strategy for BSF.JP was approved by the Government of Belgium at the end of 2000. This new strategy will cover the period 2001-2011. The salient elements are the following:
- Improvement of household food security and the nutritional status of the target group, constituting the entry point for an integrated approach to sustainable livelihoods, drawing on synergies between various components.
- New partnership with Joint Programme members, namely WHO, UNFPA and the Popular Coalition.
- Participatory approaches for design, implementation and evaluation
- Increased emphasis on nutrition, reproductive health and population programmes.
