As part of efforts to promote Food and Nutrition Security
for Sustainable Agriculture on the continent, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
(FARA) and the New Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD), have joined forces in a high level advocacy for
nutrition in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.
They jointly organised a one-day high level advocacy event
during the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in in Cairo, Egypt, which saw notice on
increased efforts and support from governments and stakeholders to improve
nutrition and food systems are still needed.
The FARA Executive Director, Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim noted
that African governments and stakeholders have over the years been implementing
several strategic interventions, among which include food fortification,
dietary diversification, vitamin and mineral supplementation, public health
interventions such as deworming and of late, biofortification.
He also said embracing food-based approaches should
encompass biofortification in national and regional agriculture and nutrition
policies, strategies, programmes and investment plans,’ was the theme of this
event.
Chairperson of the PAP Committee on Agriculture, H.E Hon
Kone Gognon, opened the meeting, saying that the theme for the meeting was
pertinent, with a focus on ensuring food and nutrition security, pointing out
that biofortification was already flagged as crucial in Africa.
Further, Dr. Ibrahim disclosed that FARA recognised the
debilitating effects of hidden hunger, and highlighted FARA’s efforts, over the
last years, in mainstreaming FNSSA within the National Agricultural and
Innovation System (NAIS).
This was echoed by Dr Rose Omari, from FARA’s Building
Nutritious Food Basket project, who elucidated the fact that micronutrient
deficiency and its consequences are not widely known, as this is ‘hidden
hunger.’
“Therefore, enhancing micronutrients content of staple crops
during production is a critical intervention,” Dr Omari said.
Senior Advisor on Nutrition, Ms Bibi Giyose, who spoke on
behalf of the NEPAD Agency’s CEO, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, brought to the fore the
fact that nutrition should not be viewed as a technical issue, as it also has
political, structural and numerous other dimensions that dictate the need to
find multi-sectorial solutions.
Prof Francis Zotor from the University of Health and Allied
Sciences and African Nutrition Society, expressed a similar sentiment with a
call to strengthen synergies in moving the nutrition agenda forward on the
continent.
Present at the event were legislators from the following
countries: Central African Republic; Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda and
Zambia.
The meeting concluded that while hidden hunger is real,
reversing it is also possible to increase micronutrient content of commonly
consumed foods through biofortification, especially to improve nutritional
status of low income households will go a long way in redressing hidden hunger.
African Parliamentarians were called upon to follow up on
declarations made by governments to ensure their implementation.
Remmy Nweke/ED, Ops
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