Off the wire
• Russia expresses grave concern over terror attacks in Syrian coastal cities  • 1st Arab online health store launched in UAE  • Al-Bashir reiterates importance of enhancing China-Sudan cooperation  • EU member states make unequal progress towards Digital Single Market: EU report  • EU member states make unequal progress towards Digital Single Market: EU report  • Endangered deer moved to north China reserve  • U.S. stocks open mixed amid Fed officials' speech  • Tsai Ing-wen should acknowledge 1992 Consensus ASAP: scholar  • Israeli PM reject talks for broad gov't hit dead end  • Hundreds of cyclists, pedestrians in Swedish emergency care after using mobiles  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Former UN chief calls for transformation of Africa's agriculture to meet nutrition needs

Xinhua, May 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Former United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan on Monday called for transformation of Africa's agriculture in order to meet nutrition needs.

Speaking at a high-level meeting aimed at achieving nutritional security in Africa on the sidelines of the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, Annan said transforming Africa's agriculture will result in nutrition security.

"Malnutrition remains a major barrier to development in many African nations, but we have global consensus on what targets we need to reach, along with a roadmap for action," he said.

"One of the most critical steps we can take to achieving nutrition security is to transform the continent's agricultural sector, because it's not just about the amount of food that we grow, it's also about the type of food that we eat. We need agriculture to be nutrition-smart," he added.

The event was organized in partnership with the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition and outlined a vision for a new high-level effort for increased investment in nutrition across Africa.

Co-chairperson of the Global Panel and former Ghanaian President John Kufuor during the same event outlined intent to create the African Leaders for Nutrition, which aims to bring together Heads of State, Finance Ministers, and leaders from key sectors across the continent to champion increased investment in nutrition.

"The African Leaders for Nutrition will be an opportunity for Heads of State and ministers to use their voices to commit their actions to invest and their positions to truly lead. Not only is it about health, but is also about economics. The potential gains are significant and lasting. That's why we're calling on leaders across Africa to join us in elevating the issue of nutrition on the continent and to make investment a priority," he said.

According to new analysis by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, increased investments to meet the World Health Assembly target of reducing stunting by 40 percent by 2025 could add 83 billion U.S. dollars in additional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in just 15 sub-Saharan African countries.

On the other hand, a new Africa-specific investment framework by the World Bank shows that to achieve World Health Assembly stunting, wasting, anemia and breastfeeding targets in sub-Saharan Africa would require an increased investment of about 2.7 billion dollars per year.

The framework has also identified that significant progress could be made by starting with investment in a subset of high-priority, most cost-effective interventions such as Vitamin A supplementation, supportive breastfeeding policies, and food nutrition. Endit