The Zero Hunger Trust Fund (ZHTF) convened a stakeholder validation workshop on June 18 in Kingstown, as part of the finalisation process for its Strategic Plan 2026–2030.
The workshop brought together representatives from government ministries and departments, non-governmental organisations, youths and civil society organisations and other key partners to review the draft Strategic Plan and provide feedback on the fund’s proposed direction for the next five years.
The session was facilitated by strategic consultant Kevin Hope and formed part of a wider participatory planning process designed to ensure that the final plan reflects national priorities, institutional realities and the lived experiences of communities.
The validation workshop built on stakeholder consultations held in March, during which partners and community actors shared perspectives on the evolving food and nutrition security landscape in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
These consultations helped shape a refocused strategic framework that positions the Fund for its second decade of service, impact and systems transformation.
The workshop provided an opportunity for stakeholders to assess whether the draft plan adequately reflects ZHTF’s statutory mandate, national development priorities and the changing realities affecting food and nutrition security.
Participants reviewed the proposed vision, mission, strategic theme, dual mandate, full food systems approach, six strategic pillars and implementation priorities. They also identified areas requiring clarification, strengthened alignment across stakeholder roles, and contributed recommendations to support final approval, publication and implementation.
At the centre of the discussion was the recognition that hunger and food insecurity cannot be addressed through isolated programmes alone. The draft strategic plan adopts a systems approach that connects social protection, nutrition, local food production, agriculture, fisheries, livelihoods, markets, climate resilience, data, governance and community participation.
This approach recognises that sustainable solutions require coordination across sectors and stronger linkages between immediate support for vulnerable groups and long-term investments in resilient food systems.
Addressing participants, Director and CEO of the ZHTF Safiya Horne-Bique emphasised that stakeholder engagement is essential to ensuring that the Strategic Plan is practical, credible and nationally relevant.
“The goal of this workshop is that we leave with a clearer, stronger and more validated strategic framework that can guide the work of the Zero Hunger Trust Fund from 2026 to 2030 and position the Fund for its second decade of impact,” she said.
Encouraging frank and constructive participation, Horne-Bique added: “Help us ensure that this document is not only a good strategic plan on paper, but also a useful national instrument for action.”
She noted that as the fund marks 10 years since its establishment, the organisation must look not only at its achievements, but also at how it must evolve to respond to new and emerging challenges.
“The environment in which the Fund now operates is very different from the one that existed in 2016. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines faces deeper climate and disaster risks, rising food prices, high food import dependency, shifting dietary patterns, youth unemployment, an ageing population, and continued vulnerability among households and communities. These realities require us to think beyond individual programmes and to look at the food system as a whole. That is the central purpose of this Strategic Plan.”
Horne-Bique further explained that the Fund’s future direction must balance immediate assistance to vulnerable populations with longer-term work to reduce vulnerability, strengthen livelihoods and support food system resilience.
“This workshop is not intended to be a ceremonial exercise. It is a working session. We are here to validate the strategic direction of the Fund for the period 2026 to 2030 and to ensure that the final plan is ambitious, but realistic; nationally relevant, but institutionally deliverable; visionary, but measurable.”
The strategic plan also sharpens the fund’s value proposition as a national institution.
ZHTF’s role is not to replace government ministries or community organisations, but to serve as a catalytic, flexible and partnership-driven institution that connects policy, financing, programmes, communities and evidence.
Through this role, the Fund is positioned to mobilise resources, pilot innovative approaches, support vulnerable groups, strengthen local food systems and help translate national food and nutrition security priorities into practical action.
Meanwhile, Hope highlighted the value of the input received throughout the consultation and validation process.
He noted that the discussions reinforced both the importance of ZHTF’s mandate and the need to build wider public understanding of the Fund’s role in advancing food and nutrition security.
“It is now for us to work together on how we align our initiatives, how we use the activities ZHTF is doing to catalyse other investment, and how we deliver on the mandate. The mandate is ending hunger, food security and sustainable livelihoods,” Hope stated.
He added that food security and food sovereignty must become part of national culture and community practice, rather than remaining abstract policy concepts.
“How do we target interventions and work together collaboratively to reduce poverty and vulnerability in communities using agriculture and fisheries as mediums? How do we strengthen and support livelihoods in these communities, and how do we ensure that food sovereignty and food security are not just buzzwords, but part of our lived culture? I am hopeful that at the end of this strategic planning exercise, there will be greater public awareness and stronger buy-in as to the ‘why’.”
The feedback and recommendations gathered during the validation workshop will be incorporated into the final Strategic Plan 2026–2030 before it is submitted for approval.
Once finalised, the plan will serve as the roadmap for ZHTF’s work to address hunger, strengthen food and nutrition security, support sustainable livelihoods, deepen partnerships and contribute to the development of resilient, inclusive and sustainable food systems across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
