News

Political will can solve malnutrition in Africa

28 July 2010

“Children don’t vote,” said Dr Robert Mwadime, of Uganda Action for Nutrition, at a session on the subject before the three-day African Union (AU) meeting opened in Kampala, Uganda. This means that political leaders in Africa often pay scant attention to the millions of children who die every year of malnutrition-related causes. Most of the audience nodded in agreement; many clapped.

The theme of the AU meeting was “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”, so it was an apt opportunity to wave the flag. “Nutrition is practically an orphan,” Mkandawire commented. About 40 percent of children younger than five in Africa are chronically malnourished.

The food price crisis of 2006-08 pushed the number of malnourished children to shocking levels and put a new focus on nutrition.

Africa’s efforts to deal with malnutrition and hunger have been dismal. Only nine African countries are on track to meet the UN Millennium Development Goal to halve hunger and malnutrition by 2015, according to a 2009 report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

More than 70 percent of Africa’s population is rural and depends on agriculture for food and income, so the solution to food security seems easy and logical: people can grow enough nutritious food to feed themselves.

Yet Africa has some of the world’s highest levels of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, especially among pre-school aged children: about 68 percent suffer from anaemia caused by a lack of iron, found in green leafy vegetables like spinach; up to 40 percent lack vitamin A, found in vegetables like carrots and pumpkins.

Overall, around 40 percent of Africa’s population suffer from iodine deficiency, which can be corrected by adding a pinch of iodated salt to the diet. A lack of iron and iodine affect the mental growth of a child; vitamin A is critical to the immune system and can reduce the risk of dying from illnesses by nearly 23 percent, according to UNICEF.

Knowing the problem and the solution is only half the job. Most experts at the event agreed that nutrition could not get the attention it deserved if it remained closeted in health ministries.

At the end of the three-hour long session, key messages were put together for political leaders. When the AU assembly opened the following day, no political leader mentioned nutrition in their address. The main theme – maternal and infant health – got little mention. A substantial portion of the speeches were devoted to the conflicts raging in the continent.

Mkandawire added optimistically, “We just need the political will to drive the process, and it can happen.”

Read the complete article at  IrinPlus News.