Human capital is at the center of development in our continent.
We need to accelerate and better invest in people for greater equity and economic growth.
The problem is that we face the worst downturn since 1945.
Global food prices increase as a result of the ongoing economic and financial crisis.
This is pushing more people into poverty, vulnerability and hunger.
The number of undernourished people has fallen globally by 13.2%, from 1 billion to 868 million in the last 20 years.
Africa’s share in the world’s undernourished population has also decreased from 35.5% in 1990 to 22% in 2019.
However, this alarming rate still calls for stronger efforts to improve food security and nutrition in the continent.
To address these challenges, the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, the African Union Commission, the Africa Early Childhood Network and other stakeholders work on human capital and early childhood development.
They held a two-day consultative dialogue for the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on occasion of the Year of Nutrition.
This consultative dialogue provided a platform for the exchange and sharing of experiences and good practices on the elimination of all forms of malnutrition.
It aimed to support the efforts of African countries through investment in early childhood development among the RECs and key partners at regional and national levels.
Ms Bibi Giyose, AUDA-NEPAD’s senior advisor for food and nutrition security, opened the meeting by describing nutrition as the ‘bedrock’ of everything Africans should be aspiring to.
“We have Agenda 2063 and the Malabo Declaration to guide us,” she said. “We should therefore by 2025 move the needle on early childhood nutrition.”
Early childhood is a critical stage in human life where investments in children’s health and nutrition play a significant role, particularly in developing children’s brains, forming a solid foundation for future life.
The first 1,000 days of life (from conception to the child’s second birthday) are known to lay the foundation for optimum health, growth and neurodevelopment.
However, in Africa and many other countries globally, poverty, malnutrition, poor health, conflict, drought, and other challenges deprive children of this important human right.
This lost potential affects social, economic and human capital development, impacting African communities’ health, wealth, and economic prosperity.
To address these challenges, children and their caregivers need a range of inputs and support during this critical stage of development, including good healthcare and adequate nutrition.
They also need a stimulating and safe environment, and emotional support and care.
These elements together are known as nurturing care and their evidence base informed the World Health Organization and partners in the development of the Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development, which emphasizes the importance of the first 1,000 days of life as a sensitive period of development.
Dr. Lynette Okengo, the founder and executive director of the Africa Early Childhood Network, highlighted the role that early childhood development plays in breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and poor developmental outcomes.
She further reiterated the critical importance of collaboration and co-ordination across sectors and stakeholder groups and building upon existing systems and mechanisms to ensure that early years are reflected and prioritised in policies, plans and programmes across the region.
The African Union and AUDA-NEPAD-led Cost of Hunger in Africa Study, underscores the need to increase investments in nutrition because African countries are losing around 1.9 to 16.5% of their gross domestic product as a result of child malnutrition.
The African Union (AU) endorsed 2022 as the year of nutrition under the theme ‘Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthening Agri-Food Systems, Health and Social Protection Systems for Acceleration of Human, Social and Economic Capital Development’.
The African Development Bank, through the African Leaders for Nutrition is committed to promoting high-level political leadership to ensure that AU member states increase investments in nutrition to reverse the negative impacts of malnutrition.
The African Leaders for Nutrition has also prioritised support to the AU’s Year of Nutrition.
Food security is critical to realizing the objectives of Agenda 2063 to achieve sustainable economic growth and development.
African leaders must urgently strengthen their commitment to ending all forms of hunger.
The Year of Nutrition offers a unique opportunity to accelerate our collective efforts and turn ambition into reality.
Through this consultative dialogue, priority actionable solutions to combat malnutrition in Africa were proposed alongside investments in the early years of the African Child.
A joint roadmap for the implementation of achievable actions and activities was developed.
We can end poverty and create more inclusive societies by investing in African children, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society, and investing in people through nutrition, healthcare, quality education, and jobs.
