A recent report commissioned by Save the Children and World Vision emphasized the need to invest in the needs of small scale farm families for enhanced resiliency in their agriculture systems over increased production. The four point recommendations include:

” 1. Make reduction of child under-nutrition central to resilience, through coordinated national plans especially prioritising children under two and pregnant women;

2. Harness small-scale agricuture for resilience and improved nutrition, ensuring sustainability and resilience and not just an increase in production;

3. Invest in social protection and services for the poorest households, particularly for households that are chronically food-insecure as distinct from those periodically suffering from shocks; and

4. Develop a new plan for national governments, international donors, and agencies should work together to prevent hunger crises, breaking down the barriers between development and humanitarian approaches, between ‘normal’ and ‘crisis’ responses.”

“The development model in the Sahel, particularly around agriculture, is not addressing the food, nutrition or environmental needs of most of the population, and there is a need for a paradigm shift,” said Peter Gubbels in a recent interview.  Gubbels is Groundswell International’s Regional Facilitator for West Africa.  From July 8-18 he shared these perspectives in presentations to United Nations bodies and NGOs on strategies to strengthen the resilience of rural communities facing crisis in the Sahel. Gubbels was contracted by Save the Children and World Vision, both members of the Sahel Working Group network of international NGOs, to produce the report “Ending the Everyday Emergency: Resilience and Children in the Sahel.”