By Ahmad Umar
Gombe (Nigeria)–African Development Bank has said that African loses about 25 billion dollars yearly to malnutrition, while 800 million people live in extreme poverty and hunger globally with about 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted every year.
This was contained in a Press Statement issued by the Communication Officer, Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria’s Lilian Ajah-mong and made available to the Media in Nigeria.
The statement quoted the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina who was speaking in Abidjan during the 2017 Global Gathering to review progress in tackling malnutrition and share innovations and best practices to drive progress.
According to Adesina, “Although there is surplus food in the world, 800 million people live in extreme poverty and hunger globally with about 1.3 billion tonnes of food going to waste every year”.
He urged African governments to invest in Nutrition. In his words “We need to ensure that community based nutrition systems are strengthened; that we enhance general food safety, especially in the informal food markets that dominate most African cities”
The statement said the Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Gerda Verburg, in her opening remarks stated that while progress has been made under nutrition, more needs to be done as good nutrition is integral to achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The SUN Global gathering is for us to inspire each other and about getting the food systems right. Nutrition is important for education, nutrition is important for health, nutrition is important for the economy and to improve the GDP. We need to find instruments to build collaboration, focused on impacts and results and to build partnerships with the private sector. The challenge of under-nutrition and obesity is one that behoves on us to build bridges between countries dealing with these issues to address them”.
Contributing to a Plenary Session on how Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and the Learning system can shape the SUN Movement, Project Director of the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria’s (CS-SUNN), Beatrice Eluaka said it has stimulated cross border exchange of information, knowledge, innovations, integrated approaches across African counties towards addressing malnutrition.
Sharing her experiences during the learning route in Rwanda, she said, “We met local champions at the community level who were addressing issues of malnutrition, saw public private partnership as well as multi-sectoral collaboration and coordination at work, and developed our innovative plans aimed at addressing malnutrition on returning home.
We have also established regional hubs and platforms for regular virtual meetings and exchange of information. One major fall-out from the Learning Route Rwanda was a Creativity Collaboration Award which for instance, saw Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone recently collaborating to develop a Guide for Stakeholder Mapping to be used in West Africa”.
The gathering also witnessed the launch of the 2017 SUN Movement Progress Report which explored the successes seen and progress made from 2016 to 2017, across the 60 Countries and three Indian States that drive the Movement and what lays in store for the upcoming year to end malnutrition in all its forms, for all women, men and their families in every part of the world.
Nigeria was highlighted in the 2017 SUN progress report as 1 of 5 countries that have done well in reducing stunting in the last one year.
Other highlights from the event was the 2017 SUN Movement Nutrition Champion Awards Ceremony where outstanding individuals, including a Nigerian, Mrs. Ololade Alonge, Program Director/CEO Child Health Advocacy Initiative, were recognized as nutrition champions.
The SUN Global Gathering brings together all SUN Government Focal Points and representatives of their partners from civil society, donors, United Nations agencies, private sector partners, academia, media, parliamentarians and others.
It is the flagship event of the SUN Movement and an important moment where members take stock of progress and challenges, share their innovations and learn what is helping to reduce malnutrition across all SUN Countries.
It is a moment for every actor to be energised and encouraged through sharing, learning and finding ways to take their fight against malnutrition to the next level.
Nigeria was represented at the Global Gathering by a team of delegates from four of the five SUN Networks – Government, Civil Society, Donor, Business.
