Achieving a nutrition revolution for Africa: the road to healthier diets and optimal nutrition

On 18-20 October 2016, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in partnership with African Union Commission (AUC), convened the 2016 Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) Annual Conference on Achieving a nutrition revolution for Africa: the road to healthier diets and optimal nutrition in Accra, Ghana. The conference aimed to promote review and dialogue on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) implementation agenda among policymakers, development partners, researchers, advocacy groups, farmers’ organizations, private sector, and other key stakeholders from within and outside Africa. Photos from the event are available here. Interventions on Twitter can be reviewed here.

The conference discussed important issues and recommendations of the 2015 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) report which was released at the conference. The report considered that the CAADP is having a positive impact in countries that have implemented its recommendations, outlining how agriculture and food systems can improve food security and improve the health and productivity in Africa. It emphasizes the importance of strengthening human and institutional capacities for mainstreaming nutrition, wider implementation of programmes, and coordinating policies and programmes across sectors more efficiently. The report presents information and analysis in support of evidence-based policy making that should inform the second generation of CAADP national investment plans now being developed. This is an important moment for shaping the region’s future and ensuring that the much-needed agriculture-led growth and development agenda can simultaneously deliver on improving nutrition, saving lives, improving productivity and health, and curbing nutrition-related diseases and the associated public health expenditures. These investment plans should address not only the usual elements of undernutrition but also widespread micronutrient deficiencies (termed “hidden hunger”) and the growing problem of overweight and obesity that is associated with economic growth.

The conference also reviewed progress in implementing the CAADP agenda and in particular, progress toward achieving key CAADP goals and targets as well as in creating capacities and adopting effective modalities for evidence-based policy planning and implementation. It also evaluated progress and challenges in establishing and operationalizing effective country SAKSS platforms and mutual accountability platforms through agriculture joint sector reviews (JSRs).