Southern Africa Resilience Strategy 2018–2021: Increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to enhance food security and nutrition

Southern Africa is subject to multiple, frequent, and compounded shocks and stressors that prevent communities from fully recovering from crises, thereby deepening their vulnerability. This vulnerability was particularly exposed during the El Niño-induced drought in 2015-2016: the worst in the region for 35 years, it devastated local food systems and severely undermined the agriculture-based livelihoods of the region’s predominantly rural population.

This Strategy aims to increase the resilience of agricultural livelihoods to contribute to enhanced food security and nutrition in Southern Africa through multisectoral, multi-hazard and multistakeholder consultations and joint interventions. An inclusive consultative process with vulnerable communities and key stakeholders on resilience policies and approaches will be the foundation of local ownership and will ensure the success of resilience interventions in the region.