A child looks into a hall of a food system in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: EPA-EFE / KIM LUDBROOK)
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world with an increasing number of disabled children. In many of the continent’s low- and middle-income countries, healthy eating is neither easily affordable nor accessible, resulting in poor diets with a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals.
Goutham Kandru and Desta Lakew
Goutham Kandru is Nutrition Lead, Exemplars in Global Health at Gates Ventures. Desta Lakew is Global Director of Partnerships and External Affairs, Amref Health Africa.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to severely impact the global economy and transform the social and cultural fabric of humankind, another threat looms. According to UN World Food Programdo not have enough to eat in more than 950 million people in 93 countries.
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In May the world celebrated World Food Day. impending or present famine has been reported in parts of Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. Food scarcity puts millions of people – most of them women and children – at risk from malnutrition and stunted growth that go along with poor cognitive development, lost human capital and lower economic productivity. All of these have long-term effects on health and development.
Globally, the stunting rate has gradually declined since 2000, with global prevalence is falling from 32.6% in 2000 to 22.2% in 2017. Despite these advances, malnutrition remains one of the greatest human development challenges in Africa – and the leading killer of children under five on the continent. The situation could get worse as climate change, rapid population growth, poverty, Covid-19, conflict and other risk factors further weaken shaky food systems and deepen food insecurity.
According to Report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world with an increasing number of disabled children. In many of the continent’s low- and middle-income countries, healthy eating is neither easily affordable nor accessible, resulting in poor diets with a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals.
This is particularly evident in countries such as Madagascar and Kenya, where the proportion of children under 23 months of age who receive the minimum acceptable diet is around 3% or 39%, they under the 10 countries which make up more than 80% of the stunts in the region.
In South Africa, where around one in three children is stunted, it is estimated 50% of childhood deaths can be attributed to chronic malnutrition.
Investing in nutrition – especially during the first 1,000 days of life – Can prevent the irreversible lifelong consequences of chronic malnutrition and growth retardation. Aside from health, such investments have great economic benefits. Research has shown that for every $ 1 invested in reducing growth retardation in a child’s early life, a return on investment of. can achieve up to $ 85 in some African countries a cornerstone for the achievement of Food security and nutrition goals by 2030. However, to reap these benefits and meet the continent’s health and development goals, multi-stakeholder collaboration is needed to address the root causes of stunted growth and ensure that children in the region are not left behind as the rest of the world advances power Zero hunger.
Measures to remove the continent’s food barriers are particularly urgent in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has weakened food security in an already existing area most foods unsafe Regions of the world.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example an estimated 50% of households do not have enough to eat in the areas hardest hit by Covid-19. In northeastern Nigeria, the number of severe malnutrition increased according to a. at 10 % opinion poll carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross between June and August 2020.
We know the inability of poorer households to ensure adequate nutrition, too higher stunting rates in children from low-income families compared to those from more affluent backgrounds. Addressing the socio-economic disparities that lead to inequalities in access to basic services such as health and water, sanitation and hygiene is an important step in reducing the prevalence of stunting in the region.
Greater political will is also needed to strengthen food systems, stabilize food prices, and improve interventions in the nutrition of mothers and children.
Where strong political will goes with action, the results are evident.
Senegal, for example, is making significant strides in reducing the prevalence of stunted growth and malnutrition through improvements in health services; Parental upbringing associated with increased use of nutritional supplements and worming agents for the mother; Access to water and sanitation; Combating poverty and improving food security.
These interventions have to be one Reduce growth retardation in children by 17.9% Between 1992 and 2017, Senegal was recognized as an exemplary country based on research by Examples of global health, which is incubated at Gates Ventures and seeks to identify positive global health outliers (“Examples”), analyze their success, and help decision makers capitalize on the results.
This success offers important lessons that can be used to strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration to tackle the inhibitions in Africa. Since March of this year, Amref Health Africa has been working with Exemplars in Global Health to establish a collaboration that focuses on South-South learning, knowledge sharing and engaging key stakeholders to facilitate interventions in countries with high incidences of malnutrition and To conduct stunted growth in children, starting with a pilot project in Nigeria and Malawi and borrowing lessons from the model countries of Ethiopia and Senegal, where the prevalence of stunted growth in children has decreased.
More than 50% of the African countries are currently out of the course to achieve the goals set by the company African regional food strategy (2015-2025). This is a race against time. Much more needs to be done to provide both immediate and long-term solutions for sustainable reductions in stunted growth in children. We need investment and intervention to strengthen the capacity of health and food systems to withstand climate variability; effective conflict resolution to prevent displacement and disruption of agricultural production and food supplies; Mitigating economic shocks to protect people from rising food prices and ensure access to nutritious food; Providing high quality health care and basic water and sanitation, especially for low-income populations; and implementing measures to improve living conditions so that children can lead healthy and prosperous lives.
Now is the time to expand multisectoral collaboration, interventions and investments to protect the survival, growth and development of children under five. If this problem is not addressed, millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa will be denied the opportunity to reach their full potential, which is robbing Africa of its future. DM
