Top Government, NGO Officials Review Data on Malnutrition in Africa

Coming under the auspices of NEPAD and the African Union, the 6th African Day of Food and Security, commemorated recently brought together top government officials, NGOs and multilateral organisations to take stock of progress towards the nutrition commitments set in Malabo in 2014, and renew and re-intensify the ongoing efforts towards them.

At this year’s ADFNS, there was a special focus on the empowerment of women in the context of nutrition in the AU’s Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development.

Speakers at the event agree that this is a critical focus given women’s primary role in child nutrition, and also in food production: up to 60% of farm labour in Africa is performed by women.

ADFNS said it will not relent on policy measures to improve women’s access to productive resources in agriculture, to equip them to make of their work – which will benefit entire communities.

At Malabo, a goal of reducing the rate of child stunting to 10% (where children are too short for their age owing to malnutrition) was agreed by governments across the continent.

The Global Nutrition Report 2015 (GNR), which collates nutrition data from all over the world, launched in September, was presented to the ADFNS by Mohamed Ag Bendech of the FAO.

The Report shows that across Africa progress towards this goal, and indeed to the important World Health Assembly (WHA) nutrition targets by 2025 agreed by international Ministers of Health in 2012, is mixed.

These targets cover the key indicators of under-five stunting, wasting and overweight, Women of Reproductive Age anaemia, under six month exclusive breastfeeding and low birth weight (for which there is no data).

The GNR shows that some countries, such as Kenya (which is on course to hit all 5 of the WHA nutrition Targets for which data exists) and Ghana (on course to hit 4) are making strong progress, thanks to a combination of government commitment, effective nutrition programmes, and general poverty reduction.

Others, such as Uganda, Algeria, Benin, Burundi, Liberia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe are making significant progress, being on track for three of five indicators.

Meanwhile, 11 African countries are on course for one WHA target, while Mozambique and São Tomé and Principe are off target on all five.

The GNR 2015 reports that overall on the continent 58 million children under five are too short for their age (stunted), and 13.9 million weigh too little for their height (wasted), and 10.3 million are overweight.

The data shows that even in countries demonstrating good progress, there is no room for complacency, and a continuing need for improvement.

The rate of stunting in Kenya is still 26%, for example, set against the Malabo target of 10%.

In Nigeria, DRC and Ethiopia, the number of children growing up free from malnutrition is less than 50%.

The good news is that in the face of the challenge to ensure that these children avoid malnutrition and are able reach to their potential, there a great deal of knowledge is now available on programmes and measures that work at scale.

For example, the ongoing Community Management of Acute Malnutrition programme in Nigeria has cured 830,000 children of severe wasting since 2009, through the provision of fortified peanut-based therapeutic food.

 As an annual event, ADFNS plays an important role in ensuring that knowledge on what work is shared, disseminated, adapted for local conditions and then put into practice at scale.

Mohamed Ag Bendech, senior nutrition officer at the FAO and member of the GNR’s Independent Expert Group, who presented the 2015 Global Nutrition Report’s findings to the African Day of Food and Nutrition Security, said: ‎“As a continent we must push for increased momentum in cutting rates of stunting, wasting and other forms of malnutrition such as anaemia and vitamin A deficiency.

"It should be our priority right from the regional to national and family household levels to invest in nutrition. The evidence also shows that improved nutrition enhances overall socio-economic benefits with healthier and more productive population.”