Global forum on food security and nutrition

Yemisi Jaiyeola, TOFTEH World, Nigeria

PRESERVATION OF NUTRITIONAL CONTENTS OF FOOD IS VERY IMPORTANT.

It is very important, most especially in the rural area. The awareness of preserving food nutritional content in all aspects of food preservation, cooking and processing.

Ordinarily, after cooking, when the pot is left on the heat of the charcoal stove or hot plate that has been off, because of the volatility of some nutrients and vitamins, it will easily be destroyed. There is need to be careful when applying heat e.g roasting, grilling, toasting, baking, blanching etc. so as to retain all the nutritional content of the food products that is essential for the development of growth of the body.

Most rural area and even urban areas lack this knowledge and it is one of the major causes of malnutrition or nutritional deficiencies. 

Sinead O’Mahony, GOAL, Ireland

Please find attached GOAL Global’s responses to the consultation on the decade of nutrition work programme. Please let me know if you would like any additional clarifications on the attached.

Kind regards

Sinead

Attachment:

Work Programme for the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016-2025

GOAL Global Response January 31st 2017

Question	Response
Does the work programme present a compelling vision for enabling strategic interaction and mutual support across existing initiatives, platforms, forums and programmes, given the stipulation of Res 70/259 that the Decade should be organized with existing institutions and available resources?	There is sufficient overview of the coordination on food systems platforms. However health, sanitation and early child development all of which are essential for improving nutrition outcomes are not sufficiently included in this draft. The nexus between humanitarian and development is also absent and should be better covered.
What are your general comments to help strengthen the presented elements of the first draft work programme of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition? & How could this draft work programme be improved to promote collective action to achieve the transformational change called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ICN2 outcomes? What is missing?	The current focus of the document is too focused on improving food systems as the solution for improving nutrition outcomes globally. The document would be strengthened by improving its focus on other essential sectors for improving nutrition outcomes including early childhood development, WASH and health. In particular with regards to health there is no mention in this document of the 13 high impact nutrition interventions highlighted by the Lancet 2013maternal and child nutrition series. Gender vulnerabilities to malnutrition are not highlighted in the document and it would be strengthened by including the impact of gender and gender norms on improving malnutrition. Action 4: trade and investment only focuses on the food system. However trade in other areas is essential for improved nutrition, including health commodities, WASH infrastructure etc. This section is too narrow and should be broadened beyond food commodity. Action 5: could be strengthened by specifying promotion of adoption of the WHO code and baby friendly hospitals initiative. Action 6: Focuses on commitment to funding rather than putting actual budgets in place. This would be improved by being more solid rather than ‘commitment’ as we have seen examples under the SUN where country nutrition action plans are put in place but not financed at a decentralised level. Also this could link to the World Bank lives saved tool (LiST) which is useful for countries in costing intervention to improve nutrition outcomes.
Do you feel you can contribute to the success of the Nutrition Decade or align yourself with the proposed range of action areas?	Yes, this aligns with GOAL’s areas of intervention in nutrition and we would be in a position to support actions as a result of this work programme in our areas of intervention.
Do you have specific comments on the section on accountability and shared learning?	No

Diana Lee-Smith, Mazingira Institute, Kenya

NUTRITION WORK PROGRAM

Comments on draft January 2017

Diana Lee-Smith, Mazingira Institute, Nairobi

Thanks for the opportunity to comment on this important document. Additions are suggested to the Action Areas as follows:

 

1. SUSTAINABLE RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEMS FOR HEALTHY DIETS

In para 19, the definition of the food system should encompass production, processing, storage, transport, marketing, retailing, consumption, waste management and soil regeneration, to form a continuous system loop

2. ALIGNED HEALTH SYSTEMS PROVIDING UNIVERSAL COVERAGE OF NUTRITION ACTIONS

This action area should include practical measures on improving dietary diversity which is shown to be linked to obesity from overconsumption of fewer food groups specifically starches and sugars and lack of access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables as well as other food groups.

These measures overlap with Action Area 1 on food systems, as well as Action Areas 3, 4 and 5.

These measures are: access to fresh foods through own production in rural and urban areas, plus support to small scale farming and ensuring affordable distribution  through food networks in urban and peri-urban areas as well as rural to urban linkages.

3. SOCIAL PROTECTION AND NUTRITION EDUCATION

This links directly also to the dietary diversity measures proposed.

4. TRADE AND INVESTMENT FOR IMPROVED NUTRITION

The human right to adequate food links to the rights of small farmers to produce for their own subsistence as well as to trade locally. This is also linked to dietary diversity.  In fact the right to dietary diversity and measures to achieve it should be included in the right to food through a new general comment by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.

5. SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS FOR NUTRITION AT ALL AGES

Add a note on linking the improvement of sanitation and water supply to waste management and linking that to the safe recycling of solid and liquid wastes to soil improvement for better food production and thus improved dietary diversity in food systems.