Nutrition experts brainstorm in Tanzania

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Some participants brainstorming at the meeting.

DAR-ES-SALAAM, Tanzania, April 12, 2012 - Moves to mainstream nutrition issues into agriculture and development in Africa received a boost last month in Tanzania. Experts from several organizations and countries at a meeting in the capital of the East African country, Dar-es-Salaam, agreed to support efforts to integrate nutrition security into the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. CAADP is the vehicle which the New Partnership for Africa’s Development is using to boost agriculture on the continent. Its goal is to eliminate hunger and poverty through agriculture on the African continent.

 “It was recognized that integrating nutrition actions into country agriculture investment plans is a critical step to leverage and programme agriculture investment for reduction of the high levels of food and nutrition insecurity in the sub regions,” the experts said in a communiqué released at the end of the meeting.

The meeting was convened by the African Union Commission to kick start the process of integrating and mainstreaming nutrition into agriculture in the East, Central and Southern African regions. A similar event for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was staged last year in Dakar.

The NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United States Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization were represented at the meeting held from March 22 to March 23. Delegates also came from Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre, Save the Children, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of Southern Africa (ECSA).

All the participants agreed on a roadmap to organize three more workshops in East, Southern and Central Africa over 2012 and 2013, and committed technical and financial support to make these events a success, the communiqué said.