The second of the Sustainable Development Goal developed in 2015 aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030. The Global Hunger Index combined the four component indicators of Undernourishment; Child wasting; Child stunting; and Child mortality to come up with accurate conclusions on hunger.

Countries’ hunger levels were rated as Low, Moderate, Serious, Alarming, and Extremely Alarming. Hunger levels were found still serious or alarming in 50 countries the highest of which are found in Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia. Highest hunger levels were found in Central African Republic (with a score of 46.1) followed by Chad (44.3); lowest hunger levels were found in Argentina (<5) followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (<5). The regional countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda were rated Serious with Tanzania having the highest levels scoring at 28.4. Rwanda was at 27.4, Uganda 26.4 and the least being Kenya with 21.9.

The report notes that the decline in hunger must accelerate in these regions if the world is to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.

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Nutrition experts warn that the continued the feeding of children and pregnant mothers with none nutritional foods will impact negatively on the country’s economy and health living of the population. The nutrition specialist at Jinja regional hospital, Toko Mansuru says  that most Ugandans have failed to provide their children and themselves with nutritious foods but instead opt to feed on foods that they come across which has caused malnutrition among most Ugandan children. He says that foods which are not with nutrition  developed  severe conditions like acute malnutrition thus resulting into serious deficiencies among them being diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity for those who are over fed, cancers among other diseases which are expensive to treat at health facilities.

Meanwhile, Alex Kisembo the marketing director, RECO industries, a company that manufactures fortified foods which are given to persons who are malnourished says that its better for Ugandans to always feed on a balanced diet than just eating for the sake of getting satisfied. Kisembo adds  that to avoid such  conditions they should eat fortified foods so as they do not spend over three months in hospital. He further calls for a combined effort and strategies from all government  departments and agencies to expeditiously address the issue of malnutrition among Ugandan children if this burden is to be solved.

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A farmer who would benefit from ATONU

Agriculture to Nutrition (ATONU), a six-year project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on agriculture to deliver positive nutrition outcomes to smallholder farm families was launched in Kampala on Wednesday October 28, 2015.  Dr. Lindiwe Sibanda, Head of Mission and CEO  of the Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), the lead implementer of the project, noted that “It’s the Agriculture to Nutrition (ATONU) Improving Nutritional Outcomes Through Optimized Agricultural Investments Project. The continental initiative was  launched today, seeks to address the disconnect between agriculture and nutrition and  improve nutrition outcomes,”. FANRPAN based in Pretoria, South Africa will work with six Consortium Members in delivering the project in Sub Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

“Our policy makers need to say no to any investments that only focus on yields. We need them to push for agriculture that focuses on both yield and dense nutrient foods,” Dr Sibanda emphasized.

Dr. Sibanda made the remarks at the launch of the ATONU project at the 6th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS), an annual event of the African Union Commission that serves as a rallying point to intensify political and financial commitments at all levels to address contemporary challenges of food and nutrition insecurity in Africa.

According to FAO, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence of undernourishment in the world – at 23.2 percent, or almost one in every four people. With such statistics the ATONU project is a welcome one. The project that specifically targets women of child-bearing age and children in the first 1,000 days of life, the most nutritionally vulnerable, is being implemented in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania. ATONU’s primary beneficiaries will be smallholder farm families in the three countries before it is rolled out in other countries depending on demand.

The ATONU project has been endorsed by His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho. King Letsie III is Africa’s nutrition champion. “I call upon Africa to embrace ATONU because it puts emphasis on smallholder farm families and empowers women as agents of change towards achieving household food and nutrition security and health outcomes,” the king said in a video message during the launch of the project. The project will run for six years with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation providing funding to the tune of US$16 million (approximately 56.8 billion Uganda Shillings).

“Malnutrition has been primary looked at as lacking enough food. Yields have increased but malnutrition persists. Agriculture needs to reconsider how success is measured. Agriculture can do more for nutrition by focusing on quality as opposed to high yields alone,” explained Dr. Shelly Sundberg of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Investments in agriculture must emphasise high quality nutrient foods and ensure that they are affordable by poor people,” she added.  The foundation is launching a similar project in India to cover the Asian region.

Prof George William Otim-Nape, an ATONU Steering Committee Member and CEO of the Africa Innovations Institute in Kampala noted that “Agriculture has arrived at a place where the focus should widen beyond production and income to improved nutrition,”  Isatou Jallow, Senior Nutrition & Partnership Advisor – Head, Food Security & Nutrition Programme at NEPAD called for “strengthening institutional capacities and systems, partnerships and knowledge sharing for enhanced delivery of food and nutrition security interventions.” This, she said, will accelerate action towards improved nutrition of mothers when pregnant leading to well nourished babies.

A report titled “Healthy Food for a Healthy World: Leveraging Agriculture and Food to Improve Global Nutrition” was launched by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Prof Catherine Bertini represented the council. “Malnutrition is a global challenge affecting every country on earth and placing more than one quarter of the world’s population at serious health risk,” she added “Given that nutrition is driven largely by the food people eat, making nutrition a priority in developing the global food system could give more people access to the healthy foods they need to thrive, drive economic growth in poor countries, and increase incomes of 2.5 billion small-scale farmers, many of whom themselves are malnourished,”.

The project’s ultimate objective is to ensure that policy makers and investors support agriculturalists to design and implement projects that deliver positive nutrition outcomes, reducing malnutrition in smallholder farm families.

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Premio Daniel Carasso Prize: The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation is currently inviting entries for Premio Daniel Carasso Prize, an international award offered to a researcher with outstanding basic or applied research work on the topic “sustainable food and diets for long term human health”.

This prize was started in memory of Daniel Carasso who dedicated his life for openness and concern for the well-being of all. The prize is awarded every two years to a project displaying clearly stated objectives, a rigorous approach, robust methodologies and study design, sound analysis, and relevant conclusions.

Objective

The Premio Deniel Carasso Prize is an international award that recognizes and supports a researcher, who has achieved outstanding basic or applied research work on the topic “sustainable food and diets for long term human health”.

Eligible scientific domains include basic and applied research in: Nutrition, Food Studies, Food Sciences and Technology, Agriculture, Agronomy, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Agro-ecology, Ecology, Biodiversity, Environmental Sciences, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Implementation Research, Nutrition/Food/Agricultural policies (Toxicology is not included).

Prize Amount

The winner of the Premio Daniel Carasso wins €100,000. The Prize may, exceptionally, be awarded to two or more entrants (in which case the Jury will determine what amount will be awarded to each winner).

Selection Criteria

• Applicants will be judged on their capacity to innovate and lead, the relevance and multi-disciplinary nature of their scientific approach, and for the potential practical application of their research work.
• Entrants must work for a not-for-profit institution and be actively involved in research.
• Entrants must have published all the eligible research work that they submit and be its authors/co-authors.
• They must also hold rights over their published work permitting them to authorize the Foundation Daniel & Nina Carasso to proceed as provided in Section 8.

Online entries should comprise

• The entry form that clearly states the name and contact details of the entrant and at least two sponsors.
• The following uploaded documents:

1. An academic curriculum vitae (Word or PDF file, max. 4 pages).2. A succinct presentation of research work eligible for the Prize (max. 3 pages), and an optional 1-page summary of on-going and future projects, in the same file (Word or PDF file). 3. A list and brief summary (Word or PDF file) of between 5 and 10 research-related publications in any media: print (books, scientific and general interest journals and magazines), the Internet, audio, video, multimedia, etc.4. A copy of each publication in PDF format (max. 3MB per file). If publications cannot be uploaded for technical reasons, three hard copies of each publication should be sent by post together with the duly completed and signed entry form.

All documents should be submitted in English.

For more information, see: Premio Daniel Carasso Prize

More: Research Grants >

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