Malnutrition manifests in various forms, from obesity and stunting to low weight for height, known as wasting. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that undernutrition caused by several factors, including suboptimal breastfeeding, inadequate intake of protein and essential micronutrients, causes 45 per cent of deaths annually among children under five, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
In West and Central Africa, more than 15 million cases of acute malnutrition are expected in children under the age of five in 2020, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). COVID-19 has led to disruptions in food production and distribution, making it more difficult for populations to maintain healthy diets. To help better understand how nutrients are absorbed, used or stored in the body, which can significantly improve children’s health, the IAEA is working with many countries in Africa, using nuclear and isotopic techniques to help inform programming and policy making.
“Food safety and security, as well as adequate nutrition, play a pivotal role in social economic development in Africa,” said Shaukat Abdulrazak, Director of the IAEA’s technical cooperation division for Africa. Speaking in a webinar on resilient food systems for healthy diets organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) to mark the 11th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) on 30 October. “Nuclear techniques can be used to complement conventional methods in assessing the double burden of malnutrition,” he said, referring to situations where at least two or more forms of malnutrition coexist.
The ADFNS aims to highlight the centrality of food and nutrition security in Africa’s development agenda. The webinar featured speakers from the AUC, IAEA, WFP, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as well as participants from government institutions, the private sector, academia and technical institutions.
The IAEA and the AUC signed their first agreement in 2018, providing a framework for cooperation to enhance sustainable development in the region. This includes the use of nuclear and nuclear derived techniques to boost food production, develop climate-smart agricultural practices, manage water supplies, enhance the safety of food and water, help improve child nutrition and combat malnutrition throughout life.
“In many cases of undernutrition, people are not consuming the right quality of food. [This] is linked to food security,” said Laila Lokosang, Advisor of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme of the AUC and focal point for ADFNS. “We tie the increased level of malnutrition we have seen in recent months to COVID-19 very strongly. We need to be more proactive than any other time before to work together to fight malnutrition in Africa.”
