African leaders and US government reaffirm commitment to investment in nutrition for Africa on sidelines of US-African leaders summit | African Development Bank

African leaders and the United States government have underlined the need for greater investment and prioritization of nutrition across the African continent.

The African Development Bank, through Africa’s Nutrition Leaders, the Nutrition CEO Council and the African Union Commission, convened a high-level discussion on Dec. 12 on the sidelines of the US-African Leaders’ Summit.

The leaders called on the US government and the global community to prioritize nutrition in global frameworks and policies, and to invest more in nutrition in Africa. They highlighted the opportunities for cooperation between the United States and African countries to address the continent’s nutritional challenges.

Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane of Lesotho reiterated that the African Year of Nutrition is an opportunity to recognize the progress made and outline additional steps to be taken to tackle child malnutrition.

“Several regional commitments have been made as part of the AU Year of Nutrition, which recently culminated in the Abidjan Declaration, adopted on December 8, 2022 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The statement calls for accelerated investment, implementation and coordination to improve nutrition and food security in Africa,” he said.

In her remarks, USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman said, “With appropriately targeted resources and simple evidence-based interventions, this could [malnutrition] crisis can not only be treated, but also prevented. Last year alone, USAID supported nutrition programs that reached more than 25 million children with nutrition-specific interventions in 21 African countries.”

She added: “Thanks to bipartisan support in Congress, the U.S. government is committing $760 million to expand and scale agricultural programs that support farmers and communities around the world plagued by rising food, fuel and fertilizer prices. As Covid-19, climate change and Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine continue to undermine food systems, it is up to all of us to keep striving to feed the world.”

Representing the African Development Bank, Dr. Dunford, the Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, stressed the urgency to provide “affordable, safe and nutritious food to address the crisis of hunger, malnutrition and famine that affects many parts of of the African continent. “Strong health systems with the capacity to support those most vulnerable to malnutrition – women, adolescents and children – are also essential,” she said.

The event was attended by ambassadors and senior officials from African countries; the AU Committee; the international NGO community, including Nutrition CEO Council members; Officials of US government agencies, including USAID and the State Department. Also present were Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health for Rwanda and Dr Eyob Tekalign, Minister of Finance, Ethiopia.

The African Development Bank has increased its resources to tackle malnutrition-related problems in Africa: in the past four years, the bank has reallocated $2.8 billion of its investment portfolio to nutrition-smart initiatives, meaning bank projects have a or more -related objectives or goals, a nutrition-related activity or intervention, and a nutrition-related indicator at the outcome or impact level.

This redistribution marks a significant increase from a baseline of $700 million in 2018.