Nutrition and food security issues by nature call for effective multi sector and multi stakeholder coordination, cooperation and collaboration for collective and concerted efforts to produce good results. Given the strong government as well as donor priority on nutrition and food security, many government and non-government actors are involved in numerous multi-sector activities related to nutrition and food security throughout Nepal. The purpose of this page is to provide an outline of the overall multi-sector and multi-stakeholder governance that currently exists for nutrition and food security in Nepal. Figure 1 provides a summary of it.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) is the apex and overarching government body which assumes a stewardship and coordination role to bring the various government sectors and non-government entities including the external development partners under one umbrella. A High Level Nutrition and Food Security Steering Committee (HLNFSSC) has been established at NPC is chaired by the Honorable Vice Chairman. The committee members include three Honorable Members of the NPC looking after Health and Nutrition; Agriculture and Commerce Sectors, secretaries of selected ministries and selected senior subject matter experts. Similarly, a National Nutrition and Food Security Coordination Committee (NNFSCC) has also been established which is chaired by Honorable Member for Health and Nutrition Sector and co-chaired by Honorable Member for Agriculture Sector. Members of the NNFSCC include joint secretary level representation from selected ministries, representatives from concerned national and international organizations and selected subject matter experts. The coordination platforms extend down to sub-national levels in the form of Nutrition and Food Security Coordination Committees at District, Municipality and VDC levels.

National and Sub-national Nutrition Food Security Committees

Nutrition and food security portfolios in the NPC are overseen by Social Development Division and Agriculture and Rural Development Division respectively. In addition, a National Nutrition and Food Security Secretariat (NNFSS) has been set up to support the HLNFSSC and NNFSCC. The Secretariat works closely with both the Divisions to provide overall coordination support and technical backstopping for nutrition and food security matters handled by the NPC. Further, three multi-Sector thematic working groups on ‘Capacity Development,’ ‘Monitoring and Evaluation/Management Information System’ and ‘Advocacy and Communication’ as well as an Academia platform under the NPC are in the process of establishment.

A concept note on NNFSS, NNFSS brochure, Terms of References of multi-sector working groups and platforms can be accessed here.

National Nutrition and Food Security Secretariat Brochure
National Nutrition and Food Security Secretariat Concept Note
Multi Sector Working Groups ToR_English
Multi Sector Working Groups ToR_Nepali

Sectoral Ministries including Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ministry of Water Supply and Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen, Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology, Ministry of Finance are part of the multi sector and multi stakeholder coordination for nutrition and food security in Nepal. A good example of multi-sector collaboration and commitment is the Multi Sector Nutrition Plan (MSNP) 2013-2017 of Nepal depicted by its framework as well as endorsement (figures 2 and 3).

On the external development partners front, there are two organized platforms for coordination and collaboration in the field of nutrition and food security in Nepal. One is the Nepal Nutrition Group (NNG) comprised of UN agencies, donor agencies and international NGOs and the other one is the Food Security Donor Working Group (FSDWG) comprising of UN and donor agencies. Both groups are active with meetings held on a regular basis.

The Terms of References of both NNG and FSDWG can be accessed here.

Nepal Nutrition Group ToR
Food Security Donor Working Group ToR

Civil Society Alliance for Nutrition in Nepal (CSANN) has also been established as a network of all Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) implementing community level nutrition and related interventions on different sectors such as nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, livelihood, education, urban development and local development.