Africa's solution is a faster and more effective action

Africa's progress in the area of nutrition cannot be denied, but it has been slow. The daunting challenge of malnutrition across the African continent still exists with 163.6 million children and women of reproductive age being anaemic, 58 million children under the age of five stunted, 13.9 million children underweight, 10.3 million overweight and 8 percent of adults over 20 facing the challenge of obesity (Global Nutrition Report, 2015). Data show that the continent is now facing a triple burden of malnutrition with the co-existence of under-nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight or obesity within the same population.

These facts provided the grounds for a high-level roundtable discussion organized by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition during the Africa Green Revolution (AGRA) Forum that took place in Nairobi from 5th to 9th of September 2016. The overall objective of the roundtable on agriculture, food systems and nutrition was to discuss business opportunities, political priorities and scope for action in promoting healthy diets for all. The eleven person global panel brought together influential food experts whose mission is to ensure that agriculture and food systems support access to nutritious foods at all levels and at every stage of life. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was represented by Mr. Bukar Tijani, FAO's Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa.

Need for a comprehensive nutrition policy and proper education on nutrition

One of the main conclusions of the discussions was that there is a crucial need for comprehensive national nutrition policies, because no one sector can solve the nutrition problem on its own. Breaking the silos in the implementation of policies is critical to meet important targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Malabo Declaration. It was emphasised that nutrition has to be crosscutting in all policy making processes and an inter-sectoral approach needs to be applied across the sectors of agriculture, health, education, trade, finance, as well as research and development and other areas.

In addition to the policy aspect, the power of education and information was brought forward as playing a pivotal role in bringing down the number of malnourished people and eradicating hunger globally. Cultural beliefs have been identified as negatively affecting nutritious diets. Examples such as livestock keeping within African households where meat is only consumed on special occasions or is not part of the daily diet of families at all were discussed as some of the cultural factors having a negative impact on potential progress. As a solution, education and a better understanding of nutrition and nutritious diets is important in a bid to change mind-sets and reduce the current level of malnutrition. In order to be able to change cultural beliefs, it is useful to have sound arguments that help communities understand the beneficial nutritional content of local foods, which in many instances still need to be assessed.

Immediate investment for returns in the next 20 years

The slow progress in nutrition improvement and the current levels of malnutrition has not only impacted human lives, but has also had serious economic impacts that can directly affect individuals and indirectly, societies and nations as a whole. Nation-wide effects of malnutrition include high losses of human capital, high health system and insurance costs, high economic output foregone and high constraints to poverty reduction and development goals. According to the technical brief by the Global Panel on The Cost of Malnutrition and the State of Food and Agriculture (FAO, 2013), "under-nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight at today's levels cost the global economy up to USD 3.5 trillion", which majorly hinders governments' efforts in the fight against poverty.

Policies and strategies are in place, but implementation and action on the existing strategies need to be hastened. Ensuring that investments have maximum impact is essential. The private sector has been identified as key and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can catalyse changes in nutrition improvement. However, policy and institutional monitoring needs to ensure that they do not undermine the provision of nutritious and quality food which can lead to obesity or other forms of malnutrition.

Besides the role of the private sector and public-private partnerships, the impact of food fortification programmes, food quality, research and value addition was also extensively discussed as additional ways to overcome the current level of malnutrition and ensure that everyone has access to nutritious food all over the world.

Contacts:
Martina Torma | Communications | [email protected]