38th ORDINARY SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION High-Level Side Event: From Policy to action: Towards a Common Position to addressing Malnutrition in Africa Session 2: Insights and Reflections on Nutrition Progress Statement

His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho,

Your Excellencies the Heads of States and Government,

Your Excellency the Chairperson and AU Commissioners,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All Protocols Observed,

Honourable Prime Minister who I had the fortune of visiting last year, and I also really appreciate His Majesty King Letsie III in all these years, not only as a champion for but as a FAO Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition. I have always appreciated his support since I became FAO Director-General six years ago.

Africa, you are committed, and this is our opportunity. At FAO, we have to support Africa first and that is what I will keep doing. I have seen a lot of change in the last six years, and I am so pleased and impressed to see such progress in Africa, in each corner of the continent, especially over the last 40 years of my career in agrifood systems.

Today’s theme sends an important message: it tells us that despite the gains we have made in making nutrition a key policy agenda in Africa, a lot more needs to be done to translate these policies and commitments into concrete actions to ensure healthy diets and adequate nutrition for every individual on this continent, leaving no one behind.   

This is very much in line with FAO’s mandate as we have set the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life - leaving no one behind.

So, the global transformation of agrifood systems really feeds into the purpose of what we are going to do: from harvesting (action on the ground), plants, animals, and even blue transformation, as well as innovation.   

We are all aware that the world is off-track to meet SDG2 (Zero Hunger) and the global nutrition targets.

The situation is particularly challenging in Africa where 298 million people – that is, 1 out of every 5 people - faced hunger in 2023, as reported in the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report.

In 2022, almost 925 million Africans could not afford a healthy diet - a healthy life comes from a healthy diet and without healthy food we do not have a healthy diet – and more than 63 million young children were stunted, and over 10 million children were overweight.

Furthermore, almost 124 million adults were obese, and 123 million women aged between 15 and 49 years of age were affected by anaemia.

In light of this high burden of malnutrition, the recent adoption of the new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program Strategy and its 10-Year Action Plan is critical.

And I commend African Leaders for this renewed political will and commitment, in particular for the significant investments aimed at transforming agrifood systems across the continent to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Many cost-effective actions exist to prevent and reduce malnutrition, but they require integrated actions across sectors, together with increased and sustained investment.

Current food security and nutrition financing is not sufficient. We always talk about Vitamin A, Vitamin B, and Vitamin C, but rarely do we talk about Vitamin M to include money and investment. In this regard, I need for my friend the President of the African Development Bank to come as well. We are still lacking funding; our pockets are still empty. Who will take care of responsible investment and productive input to produce more with less? We need action based on the responses, including innovation and policy.

The upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit next month in Paris will be critical to gain momentum and gather both financial and political commitments to accelerate nutrition actions.

The Kampala Declaration marks a defining moment for Africa to chart a new course towards ensuring improved access and consumption of nutritious foods for all.

It also aligns with the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 grounded on the Four Betters: as I said we start with better production (what do we mean by better production? We need to produce more and more variety/diversity of food, with less inputs), better nutrition, a better environment (from the micro environment to reforestation and desertification that’s why FAO has supported the Great Green Wall initiative over the past years and which we will continue to scale up and speed up); and a better life (livelihood, quality of life, and at the different stages of human being development) – leaving no one behind.

But we need bold investments to achieve our collective vision for economic growth and development in Africa, and beyond.

In this regard, the African Development Bank has provided important support, particularly through its nutrition-smart investment portfolios in agriculture and health.

Let us keep working together, and together with all relevant partners – we need Public-Private Partnerships. This is always the way to scale up action.

Dear brothers and sisters,

FAO is committed to continue playing a leadership role in accelerating policies and actions across agrifood systems to ensure healthy diets for all.

We remain committed to supporting national governments and regional institutions.

And we remain a trusted partner of the AU in achieving the continental long-term goals set out in the Africa Agenda 2063. I hope I can manage to see that when I am 100 years old! I am confident to reach 100 years and to enjoy a happy, healthy, and prosperous continent – that’s our dream. Let’s make it a reality for a better future and a better life for all African brothers and sisters.

I thank you all.