Global forum on food security and nutrition

63.Veronica Kirogo, State Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya

Dear Moderator,

My name is Veronica Kirogo from Kenya and I am working at the State Ministry of Agrciulture, Livestock and Fisheries.

In the past couple of decades there has been a lot of emphasis on nutrition-specific interventions in addressing malnutrition, yet only limited impact has been realized as evidenced by the prevalence of stunting in Kenya which stands at 26 percent. Similarly, the focus on increasing productivity, commercialization and competitiveness of agricultural commodities has not resulted in improvement of food and nutrition security in Kenya particularly at household level. However, there are some interventions either by the government or partners that may have resulted in improved nutrition and food security, but with limited opportunities for sharing of experiences, lessons learnt or best practices, replication of these success stories is difficult.

My expectation for the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition is the need to focus on documentation and dissemination of successful food and nutrition security interventions for replication. There is also need for a standardized tool for advocating for increased budgetary allocation on the food and nutrition security sector. Seventy five percent of the Kenyan population is youth; therefore food and nutrition security programmes that specifically target this category should be formulated as they have the potential for feeding the future. The use of mobile telephone technology in dissemination of food and nutrition messages would ensure wide coverage since the majority of Kenyans have mobile phones.

Developing countries should be encouraged to establish or strengthen a food and nutrition security council in order to harmonize coordination, funds mobilization and implementation of programmes, prioritize activities and pool resources. The activities would be funded jointly by the government, partners and private sector. There is a need to focus more on nutrition-sensitive technologies since they are sustainable and more often homegrown solutions.

64.Luty Gomezcaceres Perez, Corporación Universitaria del Caribe, Colombia

Original contribution in Spanish

Colombia es un país que tiene un problema principal y es la corrupción, lo que impide que la buena voluntad de muchos se haga evidente. No podemos confiar en las entidades que se encarguen de ayudar en lo concerniente a la cimentación de nuestro niños, por lo tanto una ayuda sería que organizaciones sin animo de lucro, pero no las ong nuestras, hablo de entidades con Rotary internacional u otra, se encarguen de los programas de alimentación. Con comunicación directa con el alto gobierno, porque ya una vez intentaron hacerlo y los mandos medios no dejaron que eso prosperara, porque para todo piden dinero. Solo así podemos garantizar que la comida en nuestro país le llegue a quienes la necesitan.

El control de los programas deben  tenerlo organizaciones internacionales. El gobierno  debe entregar ese dinero a una entidad  que responda en donde no haya intervención de ellos.

English translation

Colombia has a major problem: corruption, which impedes the prevalence of the goodwill of many people. We cannot rely on public institutions to improve child nutrition. We need help from non-profit organizations to take charge of nutrition programmes. I am not referring to Colombian NGOs but to organizations like Rotary International or others. Direct communication with senior government officials would be necessary, as several previous attempts failed due to the corrupt behaviour of middle-ranking officials, who are asking for money for whatever reason. This is the only way to ensure that food reaches those in need.

Programs should be monitored by international organizations. In addition, public funds should be assigned to these entities to work in areas which are not covered by government interventions.

65.Onoja Ifeoma Uzoamaka, Expert in maternal and child health nutrition, Nigeria

My name is Onoja Ifeoma Uzoamaka, I am an expert in the area of Maternal and Child Health Nutrition.

My contribution towards this is that:

1. In Nigeria, effort should be geared towards the creation of jobs for the unemployed
2. enforcing intake of key nutrients like folate, iron amongst the pregnant women
3. re-enforcing the promotion of exclusive breast feeding
4. encouraging agriculture, and
5. involving the political leaders in creating an enabling environment for nutrition works to thrive (security, easy access to health facility and improving in feeding of the vulnerable groups).

66.Rengalakshmi Raj, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India

Dear madam/ sir

Of the three components of nutrition, protein and micronutrient deficiencies are critical. Here attention is needed at the production domain to produce nutrient-dense foods. This is in the context of the recent studies among different production systems and its nutrient profile, showed that organic and sustainable production systems help to produce products with high nutrient contents, especially micronutrients and vitamins. Hence focus on supply side issues needs equal attention.

Regards
Rengalakshmi

67.Barrie Margetts, University of Southhampton, United Kingdom

I would very much echo the comments of Claudio and Florence. It is also important to ensure that any community based approaches also take all forms of malnutrition, and not ignore food systems that are driving obesity. As Corinna Hawkes said at the recent WPHNA congress on World Nutrition in Cape Town, we need to think about diet quality, and not be driven by reductionist science that favours single nutrient interventions using supplementation or fortification without addressing the underlying causes. Key to changing the apporach is building capacity, of all involved.

68.Khairul Zarina Mohd Yusop, Ministry of Health, Malaysia

Dear Moderators,

First and foremost, I would like to thank for this opportunity to exchange opinions on how to maximize the impact of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.

Herewith, please find below the comments on behalf of the Nutrition Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia.

Thank you.

1. 
   What are your expectations for the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition and how could it make a significant difference in improving nutrition and food security of the people in your country within the next 10 years?
   

Despite significant progresses on nutritional status of the population since the first Rome Declaration on Nutrition in 1992, there is still a lot more to be done to improve and strengthen the global nutrition as multiple threats of malnutrition. The burden of NCDs continues to rise in Malaysia. Although the causes are complex, unhealthy diet is one of the major risk factors. On the other hand, under-nutrition continues to be a problem in certain segments of our population. Tackling the double-burden of malnutrition is central to ensuring the achievement of the global nutrition targets, the diet-related global targets on NCDs and the recently endorsed SDGs, which will lead to a more resilient, equitable, economically stable and healthy population.  The declaration of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition will help better garner all the commitments from all sectors to end all forms of malnutrition.

2. 
   What critical activities need to be included in the Work Programme for the implementation of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition to reach the 2025 global nutrition targets? Which activities would need to be accelerated in your country to reach these targets?  How could these activities be funded?
   

Some of the critical activities that need to be included in the UN Work Programme are the integration of nutrition considerations in all development policies, making agriculture more nutrition-enhancing and advocating for school/urban farming. It is also important to give focus on strategies for behavioural change in transforming unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle which contribute to obesity problem among the population. To emphasise on nutrition promotion for the first 1000 days of life, effective strategies to address stunting and obesity problems among children also need to be highlighted.

Malaysia has reviewed its National Plan of Action for Nutrition of Malaysia (NPANM) for the time frame of 2016-2025 to be in line with the global targets in addressing the current nutrition situation of our population. The strategies of a whole-society and whole-government approach to address unhealthy eating and inactive living have been incorporated in this plan. Life-course approach has been implemented for nutrition programmes and activities in the country. In order to transform the population to eat healthily and be more active, the implementation of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ policies towards this agenda are given greater emphasis.

The increase prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children is an emerging issue in Malaysia. Several strategies and activities to halt this problem have been identified such as the implementation of the Policy Options to Combat Obesity in Malaysia, the revision of the School Canteen Guidelines by banning unhealthy food item to be sold in the school canteen, expansion of nutrition promotion activities and strengthening monitoring and surveillance system for school children. Obesity and NCD problems are advocated to all school children, parents and teachers through the empowerment of Parents-Teachers Association (PTA).

To support the ICN2 Framework of Action towards Sustaining Food Systems for Healthy Diets, Malaysia has elevated the component of food and nutrition security as one of the objectives in the NPANM III, 2016-2025. Thus, to reshape food system to promote healthy diet needs a coherent policies from all stakeholders throughout the supply chain. Close collaboration with the food producers or food industries as well as the agriculture sectors are crucial in ensuring availability, accessibility and affordability of safe, nutritious and healthy foods in a sustainable and resilient way. Government should take the leadership to mobilise all the relevant stakeholders.

3. 
   What can be done to accelerate and improve the quality of commitments from the various actors? What role(s) should public and private actors play in monitoring their implementation?
   

To accelerate and improve the quality of commitments from various actors, continuous engagement and involvement of the relevant sectors should be ensured. Trans- and multi-sectoral collaboration and coordination is needed to successfully tackle malnutrition in all its forms. Coordination and commitment among different stakeholders are crucial. Strong and continuous inter and intra-sectoral coordination and engagement are essential at all stages, from the formulation of the policies and specific plan of actions as well as the implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Accountability and ownership of the activities/ programmes are very important to ensure all activities are being implemented.

Therefore, the roles of non-health sectors have to be clearly defined and well explained in the various nutrition and nutrition-related platforms. The integration of nutrition objectives and consideration into their policies is pivotal. Strong political commitment such as the Cabinet Committee on a Healthy Environment chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister will strengthen and mobilise the collaboration and involvement of various sectors in achieving nutrition agenda and targets.

4. 
   How can other relevant forums, such as the CFS and UNSCN, contribute, and how can other movements (e.g. human rights, environment) be involved in the Decade?
   

Other relevant forums such as The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) can significantly contribute to the Decade in line with their functions which providing and strengthening strategic guidance and advocacy in nutrition at the highest level. They can also facilitate dialogues as well as engaging the relevant stakeholders/sectors for strengthening nutrition action and mainstreaming nutrition into development policies.