Food Security and Nutrition Benchmarking

12-Week Food Security and Nutrition Benchmarking Program

Empowering Barangays for Sustainable Food Security and Nutrition

Program Overview

This 12-week benchmarking program enables municipalities and barangays to prototype key components of a Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) system based on the principles of the Pook na Magana at Sagana Toolkit. Through three distinct parallel tracks, different barangays will implement various FSN strategies, tailored to their local context, to address food security challenges. The program follows the People-Centered Food Security and Nutrition Governance Framework and emphasizes participatory governance, stakeholder collaboration, and adaptive leadership.

Track 1: Food Production and Availability

Goal: Increase local food production and ensure the availability of nutritious food for all households.
Barangays on this track will focus on agriculture, aquaculture, and other food production initiatives that enhance local food supply.

• Key Components:

  1. Establish community gardens and backyard farming initiatives.

  2. Launch aquaculture projects (fishponds, tilapia farming) to supplement protein intake.

  3. Implement crop diversification programs to ensure year-round food availability.

  4. Set up a seed bank and promote the cultivation of resilient crops (e.g., munggo farming).

Track 2: Nutrition and Health Outcomes

Goal: Improve nutrition by addressing malnutrition, increasing awareness, and ensuring access to nutritious food.
Barangays on this track will focus on nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions that directly impact public health.

• Key Components:

  1. Conduct a nutrition profiling of children under five and pregnant women.

  2. Set up a community-based feeding program with locally sourced ingredients.

  3. Organize nutrition education sessions for mothers, focusing on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices.

  4. Launch micronutrient supplementation programs for pregnant women and children.

Track 3: Livelihood and Economic Resilience

Goal: Strengthen household income through sustainable livelihood programs that link food production with local markets.
Barangays on this track will focus on economic initiatives that support food security through increased income and local food systems.

• Key Components:

  1. Launch a farm-to-market program that links local farmers to municipal buyers and institutions (schools, feeding programs).

  2. Set up food processing centers for value-added products like fruit preserves, dried fish, or coco sugar.

  3. Provide financial literacy training and microfinancing opportunities to farmers.

  4. Develop agripreneurship programs that empower farmers and fisherfolk to innovate and scale their businesses.

Weekly Breakdown for Each Track

Week 1: Understanding the Local Context

• Activity: Each barangay will conduct a baseline assessment of their local FSN challenges (availability, access, malnutrition).

• Output: Present the local food security and nutrition landscape in their barangay.

Week 2: Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement

• Activity: Identify key stakeholders (government units, NGOs, farmer groups) for each track and form a barangay FSN Task Force.

• Output: Stakeholder map and engagement strategy.

Week 3: Problem Identification and Prioritization

• Activity: Use a Problem Tree Analysis to identify root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition in each barangay.

• Output: Completed problem tree and prioritized challenges.

Week 4: Goal Setting and Target Development

• Activity: Define measurable targets (e.g., increased food production by 20%, reduction of malnutrition by 15%) based on problem identification.

• Output: List of SMART goals for each track.

Week 5: Prototyping Community Solutions (Track-Specific)

• Activity: Design and prototype small-scale solutions (e.g., pilot garden for Track 1, nutrition class for Track 2, market linkage for Track 3).

• Output: Prototype plan for small interventions.

Week 6: Implementing Initial Prototypes

• Activity: Start the implementation of the prototypes and gather initial data on participation and early outcomes.

• Output: Report on initial feedback and progress.

Week 7: Monitoring and Data Collection

• Activity: Monitor and collect data on the impact of prototypes (e.g., food production rates, malnutrition screening, income generation).

• Output: Data report on the first iteration of prototypes.

Week 8: Adapting Based on Feedback

• Activity: Use feedback from monitoring to adapt prototypes (e.g., scaling up, modifying strategies based on barriers encountered).

• Output: Refined prototype plans.

Week 9: Expanding Prototypes to More Households

• Activity: Expand the most successful prototypes to reach more households in the barangay.

• Output: Expansion plan with additional resources allocated.

Week 10: Collaboration and Cross-Track Learning

• Activity: Organize a Municipal FSN Learning Exchange where barangays share experiences from their respective tracks.

• Output: Shared best practices and lessons learned across tracks.

Week 11: Final Implementation and Data Collection

• Activity: Complete the final round of implementation and data collection for each track’s initiatives.

• Output: Comprehensive report on the final outcomes.

Week 12: Evaluation and Next Steps

• Activity: Conduct an evaluation session where barangays present their results, reflect on lessons, and discuss sustainability.

• Output: Final evaluation report and sustainability action plan.

Outcomes and Impact

By the end of this 12-week program, each barangay will have:

• Implemented a small-scale food security and nutrition intervention that is tailored to its context.

• Established key partnerships with local stakeholders to ensure sustainability.

• Developed a framework for continuous improvement of food security and nutrition governance.

Join the Program!

Municipalities and barangays interested in joining the Food Security and Nutrition Benchmarking Program are encouraged to contact us at [email/contact information]. Together, we can build a future where no family goes hungry.