Photo: @FAO

18 July 2019, Johannesburg – The problem of obesity is alarming and it is cross cutting in all countries, especially in urban areas due to the changes in the food system.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is not an exception and it is facing the triple burden of malnutrition and poverty, which often co-exist with urbanization, associated with a significant shift in dietary habits. This includes the neglect of indigenous foods and consumption of processed and empty caloric foods.

In order to improve urban food systems to address the emerging burden of overweight and obesity from the lens of promoting indigenous food systems, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the New Partnership for Africa's Development of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), organized a three-day Sub-Regional Consultative Dialogue.

Under the theme, “Addressing overweight and obesity the indigenous way,” the dialogue provided a platform for experts from Southern African countries to exchange ideas and formulate strategies for inter-country collaboration on the twin subjects of obesity and indigenous food.

Call to Action

Africa is home to a wide variety of indigenous crops including pulses, nuts, cereals, fruits and vegetables, which contain essential nutrients that contribute to healthy and productive lives. Not only are they nutritious but also drought tolerant and pest- and disease resistant than their exotic counterparts.

However, despite their potential role in enhancing the quality of diets and meeting nutrient requirements for urban and peri-urban areas with high malnutrition rates, consumption of indigenous food has declined. This is due to the low availability in modern commercialized and industrialized markets and lack of investment in research and advocacy to support their market penetration and food security policies. 

In the effort to promote indigenous food as a critical contributor to a nutritious diet, FAO stressed that everyone has an important role to play. The three-day dialogue formed part of FAO’s multi-sectoral approaches to eliminating malnutrition in all its forms on the continent as enshrined in the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) decade of action.

Participants agreed that there is a need for appropriate Food Laws and regulations that protect and promote indigenous food in the region to combat the triple malnutrition in SADC. In response to this, all participating countries agreed to follow up on the nutrition targets and raise awareness on overweight and obesity.

On the discussion to elaborate the status of indigenous foods in the region with regard to their relevance for improving the food security and nutritional status of urban communities, participants agreed that promoting diversified indigenous foods consumption should be the next step. As regards, FAO and NEPAD will make further actions to clarify what the indigenous food are and how they are different from traditional and local food.

Additionally, participants recommended ways in which agricultural research can play a role in endorsing or mainstreaming indigenous food, such that they can contribute significantly to the local diets. Following this

recommendation, AUDA committed to make overweight and obesity as one of their priorities in their 2020 strategic plan and envision to have a day dedicated to overweight and obesity.

 Next Step

FAO will continue to advocate to governments on policy making by adding issues pertaining to overweight and obesity and have a follow up workshop in 2020 for issues discussed in the course of the dialogue. There will be awareness-raising activities as well as creating traditional food composition data tables for consumers.

Mphumuzi Sukati, the Senior Nutritions and Food System Officer from FAO Regional Office for Africa said, “FAO will work to foster an environment where consumers will be able to easily access and consume healthier and more nutritious indigenous foods. In pursuit of this goal, FAO, NEPAD, and Parliamentarians will liaise with law enforcement sectors and policy makers to restrict the marketing of foods high in sugars, salt, and fats, especially those foods aimed at children and teenagers.”

Other suggestion include nutrition education in the school curriculum to educate the school-going children to desist from consuming of foods high in sugar, salt and fat and nutritious foods should be made available in school feeding programmes together with physical activity practice in schools.

At the end of the dialogue, AU NEPAD representative Laila Lokosang thanked the organizers of the event, as this topic is a pre-occupation for the African Union as well. Lokosang added that, “The lessons learnt from countries will serve as pointers and assist in getting a way forward.”

FAO and AUDA-NEPAD

FAO and AUDA-NEPAD are closely collaborating and creating regional forums of learning and experience sharing for the development of Sustainable Food and Agriculture (SFA) in Africa. Through improving awareness and mechanisms to better integrate SFA and mobilize resources for agricultural investment plans, FAO supports to strengthen the mainstreaming of SFA to achieve the SDGs in the context of Malabo Declaration.

AUDA-NEPAD is the development agency of the African Union, coordinating and executing priority regional and continental development projects to promote regional integration towards the accelerated realization of Agenda 2063 – The Africa we want.