Poverty elimination and enhancing food security are the thus cornerstones of the
development policies and programs of the GoSE. A strong institutional and legal basis
has been established and is articulated in a number of documents, including the recent
National Indicative Development Plans, 2009-2013 and 2014-2018. The central goal is to
promote inclusive, sustainable and widely shared progress. As the majority of the
Eritrean population live in rural areas and they derive their livelihood from agriculture,
agro-pastoral activities and fisheries, integrated rural development scheme is a major
undertaking to benefit rural communities where poverty had been high.
90. The Government‟s Food Security Program is anchored mainly on the improvement of
agricultural productivity through modernization of agriculture, including resort to modern
irrigation. Soil and water conservation is also a major undertaking in relation to environment
security and fulfillment of food security. More than 624 ponds, 148 small dams, 78 medium
dams and 65 large dams are available presently. Together with the many wells and boreholes
that have been dug, they have improved water availability for agriculture, household
consumption and livestock. Furthermore, Eritrea is pursuing a two-track approach to achieve
national and household food security in a sustainable manner and consists of:
building the requisite water and irrigation infrastructures to achieve adequate harvests
each year that can meet domestic demand irrespective of the fluctuations and vagaries of
rainfall in an ecologically fragile environment
Bolstering individual farm-household income through initiatives at sector level and in
relation to tailored similar national level interventions. The phased Integrated
Agricultural Scheme aims to supplement sustainable farm-household income through
diversification and provision (grants/low-credit arrangements) of 1 cow, 25 chicken, 2
bee-hives, 20 trees (10 fruit trees, 5 for animal feeds, and 5 as source of energy through
regular pruning), and a 1000 to 2500 sq. m. land)
91. In this regard, poverty elimination in general and malnutrition of under-five year children in
particular, are top priorities of the Government. Accordingly, it recently established a
Steering Committee on national food and nutrition security (FNSC) drawn from the
Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Marine Resources, Trade and Industry and Eritrean
Standard Institute. The objective is to improve access to safe, nutritious and affordable food
at the household level and has formed a Technical Committee (FNTC) mandated to:
Coordinate food and nutrition security activities and forge strong partnership among
stakeholders, including UN agencies;
Ensure the nutritional adequacy of children under five years of age as well as
pregnant and lactating women;
Accelerate policy review toward elimination of malnutrition; and
Increase the production of diversified, locally produced complementary foods.
Page 26 of 100