African leaders highlight nutrition as key economic growth driver
Improved nutrition has been identified as a cornerstone of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity at the US Africa Summit in washington DC
This was made known in a release by Africapractice on the roundtable event held on the eve of the US-Africa Leaders Summit convened by President Barack Obama for heads of state, ministers, CEOs and thought leaders in Washington DC, USA recently. The roundtable was hosted by the African
Union, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and World Bank Group to catalyse new leadership action on nutrition and showcase new leadership on nutrition for economic growth. Participants included Jim Yong Kim,
President of the World Bank Group and Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Economy and member of the Global Panel on Agriculture Food Systems for Nutrition.
Tim Evans, senior director, health, nutrition and population at the World Bank Group said at the roundtable, “When we invest in nutrition, we help to secure a family’s health, education and economic potential, and harness the power of Africa’s demographic dividend.”
The stakeholders explained that there are enormous short- and long-term benefits to prioritising nutrition. Benefits include improved economic productivity, cognitive development, school performance and improved health by reducing disease and mortality. National economies have the potential to increase by between two percent and 16 percent by permanently locking-in human capital by addressing child under-nutrition. The roundtable revealed that in Africa South of the Sahara, 38 percent of children are stunted, lacking key nutrients in the crucial 1,000 days from conception to the age of two and that this can cause irreversible damage to their brains and their future productivity. These very young children grow into adulthood permanently shorter and weaker, less able to take advantage of schooling, lower disease resistance and, therefore, limited economic productivity.
Also revealed is that nutrition is also crucial for development goals such as child survival as under-nutrition causes 45 percent of all child deaths in Africa South of the Sahara with about 3.1 million deaths annually – making it a moral as well as an economic issue.
Jamie Cooper-Hohn, Chair of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, said, “Africa is booming, but estimated to be foregoing over 10 percent in annual GNP due to the permanent damage of stunting resulting from poor child nutrition. With the continent’s population anticipated to quadruple this century, leadership on nutrition is needed now to ensure countries and people can thrive.”
Nutrition interventions have high cost-benefit ratios of around 1:20, comparable to irrigation or roads. Programmes such as vitamin and mineral supplements for pregnant women, breastfeeding promotion and changes in household behaviours help to fight malnutrition.
Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Rural Economy and Agriculture Commissioner of the African Union commented, “From the experience of Africa with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Agenda (CAADP) and the multi-stakeholder consultations conducted during this year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, we know what needs to be done and need not wait for any major scientific breakthrough. What we need to marshal now is political will to drive the nutrition agenda and provide the financial resources for its actualisation. A renewed effort in leadership is crucial particularly from those with responsibilities for economic growth so that nutrition is seen as an economic ‘must have’ rather than a social ‘nice to have’. We need to have food to be able to have nutrition and children nutrition must take priority.”
OLUYINKA ALAWODE