STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER
DR B.S.S.DLAMINI
AT THE TOUR OF THE INDLUNKHULU FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMME.
MONDAY 11 MAY 2015
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister
Chiefs
Honourable Ministers
Regional Administrators
Director of NERCHA
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
This is a very significant time in our national programme of assistance to the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) of our country. I am therefore honoured and pleased to take part in the tour of the new Indlunkhulu Food Security Programme that was physically put into play last year by three of our Government Ministries, namely: the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development
In this first year of the new Programme, 80 chiefdoms are participating, 20 from each region.
The Indlunkhulu Food Security Programme has the fundamental and, let me add, crucially important, purpose of assisting communities to produce their own maize and beans to address the challenges faced by them in providing food for the needy and vulnerable children within their communities.
The Programme is essentially helping communities revive and honour the traditional practice of providing food to vulnerable populations at community level.
In part, the Programme was triggered by the dwindling donor support for food in Neighbourhood Care Points (NCPs) which came to an end 2013. This resulted in a drastic food shortage in almost all NCPs and quite clearly a crisis that had to be dealt with swiftly and expeditiously. To put it in perspective, over one third of our child population is either orphaned or vulnerable. This meant that there were huge numbers of children unable to meet their daily food requirements.
The Programme essentially will be producing maize and beans to support children at NCPs. In order to further broaden the diet and improve the nutritional content, other crops such as food legumes like cowpeas, mung beans and sweet potatoes should be considered.
The Indlunhkulu Programme aims to ensure that at least 35 bags of maize per hectare in each of the 80 communities is harvested and distributed to support the community’s vulnerable populations, especially at the NCPs. And, clearly, a further dimension of the Programme, beyond food production in the first instance, is the enhancement of the capacity of communities to produce their own food.
The Programme identifies the role of chiefs in the allocation of land and the provision of sound leadership in generating commitment, and mobilizing their respective communities to participate and stay in that mode. This will include the chiefs setting up formal community structures to manage the daily operations of the Indlunkhulu fields.
The full participation and unwavering commitment of local leadership and the respective communities in this Programme are essential for ensuring that it achieves its goals and is sustainable.
I am sure that we do not need reminding that, in Swazi tradition, the members of a community are not only the children of their biological parents but also the fundamental responsibility of the community itself. That means that the responsibility of providing for the needy and most vulnerable members of our society is not the sole responsibility of Government. Community leadership and community members all have a responsibility to be actively involved in addressing food security needs.
His Majesty’s Government nevertheless recognizes its own level of responsibility and the absolutely crucial importance of providing support for children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS, and community based structures and mechanisms to address this problem. NERCHA is, thus, working closely with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development in the implementation of the new Indlunkhulu Programme.
The Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development is responsible for mobilization of both local leadership and communities as well as ownership of the Programme.
I take the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of His Majesty’s Government to address food security. The recent launch of the Schools Food Security Framework by the Honourable Minister for Education and Training, last month, is another pointer to how critical is this continuing commitment. Apart from the humanitarian dimension in not having our children go without food, it is a clearly visible fact that when children, whether in or out of school, have access to food, their vulnerability to HIV infection can be managed to a far better degree.
We are advised that preliminary data for the current farming season shows that several chiefdoms, already in the Programme, have harvested substantial amounts of maize, sorghum, cowpeas and beans. As such, these chiefdoms will require very little or no supplementary support from Government in the coming years. On behalf of His Majesty’s Government, I congratulate those chiefdoms. They are true role models for others to emulate.
It is clear that the success of the re-launched Indlunkhulu Programme will be attributed, to a great extent, to strong leadership role of chiefs who place themselves in the frontline, and taking part in field activities.
We are grateful to all the Government Ministries involved, including the regional implementing teams. NERCHA has also played a valuable role in reviving the Programme. As indicated in the Extended National Multisectoral Strategy on HIV and AIDS, the Programme may need to be mainstreamed within the Ministry of Agriculture as we move away from vertical programming of HIV and AIDS initiatives.
In any event, it should be emphasized at the outset, that to ensure sustainability of this Indlunkhulu Food Security Programme, there is need for the Ministry of Agriculture to build it into its strategic plans and implementation processes. This will ensure that the country achieves food security and we reach as many people as possible with HIV and AIDS interventions that will contribute to His Majesty’s dream of an AIDS-free Swaziland by 2022.
Finally, let us remember that we are not re-inventing the wheel, so to speak. The Indlunkhulu Programme has a precedent in the form of the previous scheme. Let us make sure we learn everything we can from the predecessor. There is a responsibility in Government and a responsibility in the communities. Let us set the bar very high and never let it fall from our minds that this is all about the children of our country who have a fundamental human right to, among other things, food and security. And then let us ensure that a similar degree of assistance is rolled out to the remaining chiefdoms as quickly as possible.
On behalf of His Majesty’s Government I thank everyone concerned for providing this tour, and I give all involved our very best wishes and the assurance of continuing Government support throughout.
Thank you.