African Leaders Aim to Revive Efforts to Meet Global Nutrition Goals

Published March 9, 2018, by

NOT ONE AFRICAN country is on track to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030, according to new data released late last month. A few weeks earlier, almost in anticipation, African leaders formalized a plan to ramp up the fight against malnutrition on the continent.

The two events are critically linked, said Abdoulaye Ka, the national coordinator of Senegal’s malnutrition control unit, known as the CLM. He said the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) initiative, which was formalized in late January, could be crucial to reviving continental efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of ending hunger and achieving food security and improved nutrition by 2030.

While some areas may achieve the 2025 targets, the researchers concluded, “much, if not all of the continent will fail to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target – to end malnutrition by 2030.”

While there is no single reason behind this looming failure, experts say the absence of consistent political leadership has certainly been a factor.

“Through many African countries, there are well-written policy documents” on nutrition, said Dr. Julian May, who leads South Africa’s Centre of Excellence in Food Security. “But you see stunting of children is not changing.” This is explained in part, he said, by the lack of leadership pushing policy into practice, both by lobbying for resources and demanding results.

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