This post was written by Emily Bondank, Karol Boudreaux, Kelvin Gorospe and Jennifer Kane.

The U.S. Government’s Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) provides a roadmap for USAID and other government agencies to implement the Feed the Future initiative to end global hunger and food insecurity. The updated GFSS emphasizes the importance of natural resource management in supporting sustainable food systems and achieving the Strategy’s objectives: inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led growth, strengthened resilience among people and systems and a well-nourished population, especially among women and children. The GFSS results framework specifies improved natural and water resource management as key cross-cutting intermediate results that, along with sustainable fisheries management, contribute to food security, nutrition, livelihoods and resilience outcomes. 

The GFSS activity design guidance (ADG) series that accompanies the updated GFSS features a range of new ADGs related to natural resource management. Each ADG highlighted here is a synthesis of best practices for designing and implementing Feed the Future activities at USAID and emphasizes the importance of natural resource management within the Feed The Future portfolio.

The Natural Resource Management ADG is focused on natural resource management in support of terrestrial food systems programming. The GFSS’s cross-cutting intermediate result #5 notes the importance of sound and inclusive natural resource management, which enables the provision of critical ecosystem services, such as pollination, water cycling, wild foods and soil formation that support agricultural food systems and promote the resilience of people and communities. Key considerations to enable sound and inclusive natural resource management include: understanding the critical role natural resources play in supporting priority value chains, recognizing how effective natural resource management contributes to mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change and identifying and deploying strategic approaches to improve natural resource management at the farm or plot level. Sound natural resource management builds on a foundation of inclusive and equitable governance of land and other natural resources, such as water, trees and wild animals.

The Improved Water Resources Management for Agricultural Systems ADG highlights that water resources management is key to the long-term viability of agriculture and global food production and processing given the large demand for water for agricultural production and the decreasing supply of water resources from climate change, land degradation and pollution. Achieving the GFSS’s cross-cutting intermediate result #6 to improve water resources management for agriculture and food systems necessitates interventions at both the hydrological systems level (i.e., watershed, river basin, and aquifer) and the agricultural systems level (both rainfed and irrigated agricultural systems). Key intervention types include assessment of relevant scale and sustainability of sources (e.g., watershed, landscape, groundwater) and planning of rainfed and irrigated systems; governance and institutions; on-farm water management and sustainable irrigation for crops, livestock and aquaculture; and markets, farm inputs and private sector engagement.

The Sustainable Fisheries Management ADG is one of two new ADGs in support of aquatic food systems programming, along with the Sustainable Aquaculture Production Systems ADG, and complements the ADG on natural resource management for terrestrial food systems. The Sustainable Fisheries Management ADG notes that effective management addresses threats facing fisheries in order to sustainably optimize production and help achieve poverty reduction, increased resilience, and improved nutrition objectives — and that ecosystem approaches to fisheries management are the best practice for achieving these objectives. Key considerations for designing a sustainable fisheries management activity include the relationship of the target fishery to the broader food system, threats and drivers impacting the target fishery, who will benefit from the activity and how to ensure inclusive and equitable benefits, and the role of the target fishery in climate adaptation and mitigation.

Making progress towards the GFSS’s objectives will require a holistic approach that includes natural resource management in addition to addressing the effects of climate change, collaborating with local partners, and integrating social, political and local dynamics to work across terrestrial and aquatic food systems. The new natural resource management ADGs can help USAID Missions take the first step toward using this important approach to achieve their Feed the Future goals.