The persistence of child malnutrition in Africa

Malnutrition affects about 30 percent of children in Africa, caused by low birth weight and post-natal growth faltering. Child malnutrition is a persistent problem. The long term trend shows only slow improvement, and malnutrition rates worsen during droughts, economic crises, conflicts and displacement, and HIV.

Resilience to these crises is better than anticipated. Slow progress towards reducing malnutrition is re-established when they recede. The provision of food or income support (through cash transfers) can help this resilience. Documented examples include:

• the Enhanced Outreach Strategy following drought in Ethiopia in the early 2000s
• supplementary feeding programmes in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, following drought and economic stresses
• drought mitigation programmes in Botswana.

Sustained improvement in the nutrition status of children requires fair social and economic development. Education is particularly important, notably for women. Community-based programmes and health services can reduce malnutrition, usually without food distribution. This has been seen in Tanzania through the Iringa and Child Health and Development programmes during the 1980-90's, and the Community Nutrition Project in Senegal in 1996. Experiences from effective community-based programmes in Asia and Latin America also need to be applied in Africa.

The accelerating globalisation of food production, trade and marketing threatens the food security of poor communities in Africa, however. Removing barriers to trade (such as tariffs) and reductions in income support to farmers in richer countries would help to create greater export opportunities for African farmers. These actions would also reduce the price of food and other commodities imported into Africa. Both of these changes would improve the nutrition status of poor communities.

Without greater attention to nutrition, increased child mortality, morbidity and impaired intellectual development are inevitable.

• Policies must tackle intermittent crises through emergency programmes and support sustained community-based programmes.
• Nutrition should be reinstated as a priority programme area alongside HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

John Mason
Department of International Health & Development, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, USA
T +1 504 9883987
masonj@tulane.edu

David Sanders
The Public Health Programme, University of the Western Cape, Modderdam Road, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
T +27 21 9592402
dsanders@uwc.ac.za

See also

Impact of Drought and HIV on Child Nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa, Working Papers in International Health and Development 07-03, by John B. Mason and the Tulane/UNICEF Team, 2007 (PDF)
www.sph.tulane.edu/...Nutrition.pdf

'Community Health and Nutrition Programs', by John B. Mason, David Sanders, Philip Musgrove, Soekirman and Rae Galloway, pages 1056-1074 in Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries 2nd Edition, edited by Dean T. Jamieson et al, 2006 (PDF)
http://files.dcp2.org/pdf/DCP/DCP56.pdf

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