Action - Feed the Future: The U.S. Government’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative - Women's education - Women of reproductive age (WRA)

Programme: Feed the Future: The U.S. Government’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative

Programme description

Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, is establishing a lasting foundation for progress against global hunger. With a focus on smallholder farmers, particularly women, Feed the Future supports partner countries in developing their agriculture sectors to spur economic growth that increases incomes and reduces hunger, poverty, and undernutrition. Feed the Future efforts are driven by country-led priorities and rooted in partnership with donor organizations, the private sector, and civil society to enable long-term success. Feed the Future aims to assist millions of vulnerable women, children, and family members to escape hunger and poverty, while also reaching significant numbers of children with highly effective nutrition interventions to prevent stunting and child mortality.

Over the next five years in Mozambique, Feed the Future aims to help an estimated 207,000 vulnerable Mozambican women, children and family members—mostly smallholder farmers—escape hunger and poverty. More than 346,000 children will be reached with services to improve their nutrition and prevent stunting and child mortality. Significant numbers of additional rural populations will achieve improved income and nutritional status from strategic policy engagement and institutional investments.

Programme type

Multi-national

References

Status: 
On-going

Start date:

January
2011

End date:

December
2015
Area: 
Rural
Place: 
Zambezia, Nampula, Sofala and Manica Provinces
Target group: 
Women of reproductive age (WRA)
Delivery: 
Community-based
Implementation details : 

Supporting women in agriculture and household nutrition is essential to the success of this strategy. Agriculture employs 90 percent of Mozambique‘s female labor force, and a quarter of all farming households are women-headed. Women are also the leaders on nutrition in the household. USG/Mozambique‘s FTF strategy supports women by:

  •  Selecting several value chains that have high female relevance and participation. For example, women are often growers of groundnuts, and cashews create female employment (nearly 40 percent of jobs in the processing industry are held by women).
  • Strengthening women‘s participation in and leadership of farmer associations. In communities where Title II is active, 94 percent of women belong to a farmers association. INCPROX studies show that these women have almost double the income of women in communities that do not receive Title II support.
  • Targeting women (and their children) with nutrition interventions to reinforce positive nutrition behaviors in the household.
  • Involving women in research trials and farm-level demonstrations.

Training women as trainers of other women in nutrition benefits and improved household processing of soybeans, orange fleshed sweet potato and cowpeas.

Target population size : 
estimated 207,000 vulnerable Mozambican women, children and family members—mostly smallholder farmers—escape hunger and poverty
Coverage level (%): 
.
Outcome indicator(s): 

.

M&E system: 

Using guidance from the January 2011, USAID Evaluation Policy, USAID/Mozambique will employ monitoring and evaluation (M & E) personnel to gather evidence of how FTF Mozambique projects are sustainably reducing poverty and hunger. USAID/Mozambique‘s Agriculture, Trade and Business Office (ATB) staff will be responsible for supervising M & E work. USG/Mozambique will monitor and evaluate overall FTF investments to ensure that they are achieving objectives and maximizing returns. Program activities must be tracked through periodic field visits by Mission staff and through ongoing monitoring and learning by implementing partners. USG/Mozambique‘s approach to M&E will consist of three components:

  1. Project-level performance monitoring,
  2. Program and impact evaluations, and
  3. Assistance to strengthen Government of Mozambique‘s capacity to establish performance baselines and targets, and to collect, analyze, and utilize reliable data on the impact of policies and investments.

The integration of agriculture, nutrition, and health elements into a joint strategic plan provides a unique opportunity to innovate, document, and demonstrate best practices associated with a concurrent multi-sector investment model. Because the Mozambique FTF strategy will be supporting linkages among existing programs, USAID/Mozambique is well positioned to develop a model for harmonizing key agricultural and nutrition indicators relevant across areas of focus. Building on this collaboration, both the Health and Economic Growth teams will work together to integrate M & E systems and processes to track synergies and multiplier effects between the two sectors. The integration of the M & E function may take the form of harmonized M & E plans at the implementer level combined with joint monitoring by Mission, Economic Growth and Health team members.

Reliable and well-defined monitoring, reporting, and evaluation methods, roles, and communication channels result in:

  • Improved project and program management,
  • Promote ongoing learning,
  • Tests of development hypotheses, and
  • Ensure accountability

A fully functioning M & E team and system further help to illustrate the Mission‘s value added to overall development not only to key stakeholders in the USG, but also to the Government of Mozambique and other development partners.

Baseline: 
FTF/Mozambique will use the following lead indicators to track progress in implementing this strategy. Reduction in the poverty prevalence rate in Zambezia and Nampula, disaggregated by sex; Reduction in the underweight prevalence rate of children under five years of age in Zambezia and Nampula. Further indicators will be chosen as appropriate, but are expected to include: Value of incremental sales (collected at farm-level) attributed to FTF implementation, disaggregated by sex of household; Prevalence of stunted children under five years of age.
Post-intervention: 

FTF/Mozambique will use the following lead indicators to track progress in implementing this strategy.
Reduction in the poverty prevalence rate in Zambezia and Nampula, disaggregated by sex; Reduction in the underweight prevalence rate of children under five years of age in Zambezia and Nampula.
Further indicators will be chosen as appropriate, but are expected to include:
Value of incremental sales (collected at farm-level) attributed to FTF implementation, disaggregated by sex of household; Prevalence of stunted children under five years of age.

Outcome reported by social determinants: 
Sex
Socio-economic status

Revision log

DateUserLogState
Wed, 10/08/2014 - 12:56engesveenkEdited by engesveenk.draft
Tue, 04/09/2013 - 17:53AnnaLarteyEdited by william_nkoom.draft
Tue, 04/09/2013 - 12:21AnnaLarteyEdited by AnnaLartey.draft