13 Sep 2022

The need to unite and tackle nutrition has never been greater as the world battles  against the impact of COVID-19 as well as effects of the war in east Europe and rising food and fuel prices, says acting UNICEF representative Ms Alexander Illmer.

Speaking at a meeting of the Africa Taskforce for Food and Nutrition development in Gaborone last week, Ms Illmer said African countries needed to address issues of nutrition comprehensively.

She said macro-economic trends were likely to affect households and families as consumption would be decreased and the number of families at risk of sliding into poverty increased.

Ms Illmer also said malnutrition was not only limited to a child’s health, but that it threatened their future development into healthy and productive adults.

“Children suffering from stunting will never achieve their full cognitive potential and are more likely to have delayed motor development and to underperform at school,” she said. 

She added that the effects were largely irreversible and that victims lost more than 10 per cent of lifetime earnings while national economies lost 2-3 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product to undernutrition.

She urged African nations to ensure that all children had a chance of developing into healthy adults and productive citizens. She also advised them to form multi stakeholder coalitions encompassing ministries of health, agriculture, education, water resources, civil society and communities to ensure coordinated action against malnutrition.

“We need to ensure complementarity with programmes and policies focusing on agriculture and food security, early child development, water and sanitation as well as social protection,” she said.

Ms Illmer also noted that UNICEF’S 2020-2030 nutrition strategy made reference to the burden of malnutrition and undernutrition in the form of stunting and wasting, micro-nutrient deficiencies and a growing prevalence of overweight and obesity.

She said in order to tackle the burden holistically, there was need to have a deliberate emphasis on nutritious, safe and affordable diets as well as services and practices that supported optimal nutrition, growth and development.

 She added that the approach required to be leveraged on existing platforms such as school-based feeding programmes and social protection systems to advance the nutrition agenda for children.

Ms Illmer also pointed out that across the world and in Botswana UNICEF was advocating for a life cycle based approach to social protection such as universal child grants. 

She said they could make a major difference to families and enable them to provide better nutrition for their children.

Sharing the same sentiments, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Heath, Ms Grace Muzila said strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security in African remained a top agenda and that there was need to ensure greater food security at national levels.

She said access to safe food was not only a human rights issue, but that it also enhanced national economies, trade and tourism as well as contributing to nutrition security in the world.

Ms Muzila called on nations to pursue food safety and sufficiency and to ensure promotion of technology-transfer as well as adoption of integrated value chains with adequate market access at all levels.

Ms Muzila also recalled the commitment made seven years ago by the global community to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

She, however, noted that nearly 828 million people across the globe were affected by hunger in 2021, adding that it was an increase of 150 million people since 2019. ”Should these trends continue, the world will not achieve zero hunger by 2030 as intended,” she said.

She said the unflattering statistics showed that there was a long way to go in ending hunger and urged African countries to double their efforts, not only in ensuring food sufficiency, but also by committing to improve the nutritional status of citizens, particularly women and children.

“I wish to urge countries to also increase efforts for renewed commitment, research implementation and increased funding for execution of the mission towards building nutrition resilience in Africa as well as accelerate human capital, social and economic development,” she said. BOPA