Africa: 'Cost of Inaction Against Malnutrition Is High'

UNICEF/Ahmed Elfatih Mohamdeen

A child is screened for malnutrition in Sudan.

20 February 2025

allAfrica.com

By Boakai Fofana

Monrovia — The organizers and participants of the global conference on nutrition in Paris, Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2025, have called on governments and other stakeholders worldwide to integrate nutrition across various sectors to address deficits in nutrition targets.

During an online webinar to prepare for the international event which takes place every four years, participants were told that with five years remaining in the UN target for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the "cost of inaction is high".

The SDGs are 17 goals adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015 to promote prosperity and protect the planet.

The meeting's organizers, the Nutrition For Growth (N4G) working group, said the preparatory event was intended to equip hundreds of stakeholders with the necessary information tool. During the webinar, a participant said proper nutrition is fundamental to human development: "Many countries grapple with malnutrition challenges, the problem is increasingly becoming a "major risk factor for non-communicable diseases".

The upcoming meeting is the flagship international gathering to highlight the increasing need for stakeholders to combat malnutrition around the world. The first global nutrition conference was held in 2013, against the "backdrop" of the London Olympics - which organizers say symbolizes "health, strength and the human potential", all of which are dependent on proper nutrition.

Since the London conference, the international gathering on nutrition has taken place in the host country of the Olympics and Paralympics. This year's meeting aims to, amongst other things, make the fight against all forms of malnutrition a "universal cause" and "maintain a high level of political and financial commitment".

Conference host France called for "bold commitments", as the upcoming conference will be a key opportunity for "revitalizing momentum", addressing gaps in national plans, and revisiting past commitments, participants were told.

Malnutrition is a major challenge for African nations. A UNICEF report states that 64 million children in Africa - or 1 in 3 - are experiencing "severe food poverty", which is more likely to develop into "wasting," a life-threatening form of malnutrition. The report warned that millions of children under the age of five are unable to access and consume "a nutritious and diverse diet to sustain optimal growth"

Analysts said nutrition is central to the achievement of SD2, which focuses on "ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition". Proper nutrition, they've said, has a major impact on health, education, and economic development overall, thereby making it significant to achieving other SDG targets.

The organizers said the March conference would build on the progress made in Tokyo 2021, while "addressing gaps across the nutrition value chain".

A webinar presenter said the commitments by individual countries could be financial and political - by "integrating nutrition in various sectoral plans".

* The N4G Outreach Group jointly supports the mobilization of country commitments before N4G in March 2025, in support of the Government of France's efforts. Current members include Action Against Hunger, Concern, FAO, the Global Nutrition Report, International Rescue Committee, Nutrition International, Results, Save the Children, SUN Civil Society Network, SUN Movement Secretariat, UNICEF, the UN Nutrition Secretariat, WFP, WHO and the World Bank.