Eswatini

Eswatini is highly dependent on imports to feed its people, as national production is constrained by frequent droughts, erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, inadequate farming technologies, low investment in seeds, fertilizers and equipment, and structural barriers preventing access to formal markets. Food insecurity affected 14 percent of the population in 2018, due to high poverty levels, low farming productivity and high prices.

Smallholder agriculture remains the backbone of rural livelihoods, with over 70 percent of the country’s people relying on subsistence farming. Post-harvest losses are estimated at 30 percent of all food produced, and inefficient supply chains contribute to high costs that discourage smallholder production. As a result, while farming is an important source of food for poor rural families, production is not enough to meet households food needs.

The country is vulnerable to recurrent climate-related and external shocks. The 2015-16 El Niño- induced drought, the worst in 50 years, caused a 40 percent drop in production of the staple maize. Recurrent droughts and poor performing agricultural seasons, poor economic growth and reduced income opportunities have eroded further households’ ability to cope with shock, leaving them more vulnerable to food insecurity.

Women are underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions in the public and private sectors. Gender-based violence, sexual abuse and gender discrimination affect one in three women and girls, with almost half of women and girls reporting having been abused by the age of 18, and almost half of women experiencing some form of sexual violence in their lifetimes.

The World Food Programme (WFP) provides technical assistance, services and coordination support for national food and nutrition security policies and programmes through approaches that enable progress on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and HIV-sensitive actions.