“Hunger should be history by 2025” Nutrition Experts
A strategic planning meeting of NEPAD’s Food and Nutrition Security Programme on margin of the 10th CAADP Partnership Platform in Durban has come up with important outcomes on how to tackle the prevailing food insecurity problem in Africa.
They have called for urgent scaling up investment to tackle hunger and malnutrition; youth should to be engage and fully involved in Agriculture production; more opportunities should be given to women and children, the group most vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity.
These outcomes are all in a bid to fully realize the transformation of Africa’s Agriculture and move towards an Africa free of hunger and malnutrition by 2025, and espouse the Agenda 2063.
Teams from six countries were invited to participate and make recommendations on the Hunger Free Africa 2025 Vision strategy aimed at eliminating hunger and malnutrition by 2025.
Participants at the side event
They agreed that hunger should not be prevalent when Africa has the resources to feed itself and that if all parties were committed, hunger would be history.
Ms Bibi Giyose delivering a speech at the side event
Speaking at the event, NEPAD Advisor on Food and Nutrition Security, Ms Bibi Giyose noted the importance of ensuring that any plans or discourse on Agriculture includes a component on food security.
“It’s important to invest in Nutrition, not because it’s a moral obligation, but an economic imperative” said Ms Giyose.
Participants representing different institutions and countries spoke on their hope for a hunger-free continent by 2025. Some indicated that small-scale farmers should not be living on the margins of poverty when they invest so much in agriculture; some spoke about Africa’s vulnerable women and children.
Ms Mariam Sourmary
Mariam Soumare, NEPAD’s Principal Food Security Analyst said that 2014 being the year of Agriculture and Food Security was an opportunity to leapfrog the continental process and put into effect African led programmes and projects.
“These programs should aim to eradicate poverty and malnutrition through building a resilient agriculture for a better life for Africans” she said.