Proper nutrition holds key to better health for children, women in Africa

Agenda 2030 of the United Nations aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Three.

It also seeks to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition while also promoting sustainable agriculture.

However, only a privilege few have access to and can afford nutritive food and quality health care in many African countries.

According to the 2017 nutrition report by the World Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition is still one of the gravest problems across the globe, especially in Africa.

Malnutrition is not only a public health problem but also an economic one.

Some of the common diseases we suffer from as a result of malnutrition include aneamia, stunting, overweight (usually referred to as the triple burden of malnutrition) and micronutrient deficiency (lack of enough iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin).

ACTION PLAN

Stunting also complicates other diseases like measles, pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea, diabetics, cancers and heart disease.

Although global progress has been made in reducing malnutrition, according to the set SDG target, it is still not rapid enough.

For example, in Kenya, the demographic and health surveys carried out from 2003 to 2014 have shown fluctuations in the percentage of children under five suffering from stunting.

These have ranged from 30 per cent in 2003 to 35 per cent in 2008 and 26 per cent in 2014.

These surveys carried out were amidst Kenya signing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme to reduce poverty and hunger and also implanting the nutrition action plan in 2012 and joining the Scaling Up Nutrition global movement.

AGRICULTURE
Stunting, according to the surveys, has a higher burden on male than female children as well as mothers, more so those who are less educated and in rural areas.

The above fluctuations and policies show that a lot still has to be done to eradicate malnutrition in Kenya and Africa as a whole.

The 2017 WHO nutrition report has proposed an inclusive and gender equitable framework, peace and stability, which create an enabling environment to fight against malnutrition.

While this is necessary, there is also the need to transform our agricultural sector.

This can be achieved by making sure that farmers can afford land, labour and inputs, have market linkages and information, and that they adopt climate smart technologies besides soil fertility management techniques and support services.

They can also be encouraged to grow crops that have benefited from bio-fortification technology.

NUTRITION
What does bio-fortification offer? The term was coined by a bean breeder, Mr Steve Beebe.

The bio-fortification of common beans was initially meant to produce varieties with more iron and more zinc.

These boosted the protein and vitamins that beans already contained and subsequent calories gotten from its consumption.

Known as the poor man’s meat, common beans are mostly grown by women for home consumption and sold when in excess.

BIO-FORTIFIED BEANS

In recent years, beans have become a tradeable commodity with more being sold than consumed, posing a problem for nutrition and health.

The recent past has seen the release of bio-fortified beans in Kenya, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The more people we reach with bio-fortified beans and other such produce, the more we reduce the burden of malnutrition and make progress towards meeting most of the SDGs.

Dr Nchanji is a gender specialist in the African regional office at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Goettingen, Germany. [email protected]