Food and Nutrition Security, Poverty and Environmental Sustainability: Still a Challenge in Africa - Prof Agnes Mwang’ombe, Principal, University of Nairobi

2. FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY,
POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY:
STILL A CHALLENGE IN AFRICA
AGNES W. MWANG’OMBE
University of Nairobi

3. Food and Nutrition
security and poverty status
• Until the poor and vulnerable are assisted with
problem of food insecurity, hunger will continue to
block their prospects to invest and develop
themselves out of poverty.
• Food insecurity in Africa, as one of the major causes
of hunger and malnutrition, continues to deter
economic growth and limit progress in reducing
poverty.

4. M(I)DGs and NEPAD
• African countries are committed to both MDGs and at
least 6% annual GDP growth rates.
• The region needs to seriously start integrating climate
change issues into its developmental strategies.
• The impacts of either droughts or floods are
immense.

5. Comprehensive African Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP):
the African response (2003)

6. Dublin initiative discussing aligning
CGIAR AND CAADP
• AUC has been involved in a key engagement on the broader efforts of
advancing African Agriculture through CAADP by aligning the work of the
CGIAR to African Agriculture.
• CGIAR SLOs:
– Reduce rural poverty
– Improve food security
– Improve nutrition and health
– Sustainably manage natural resources
through high-quality international research and partnerships-CRPs

7. Tackling complex issues with collaborative
research-15CRPs

8. Proposed way forward: Just to name a
few areas to focus on
• Create effective seed systems(vegetatively propagated germplasm )
to facilitate uptake of high yielding varieties- dryland cereals,
indigenous vegetables, tuber crops etc)
• Leverage for Support for Human (attracting and retaining the youth
and including Farmer education/exposure) and Institutional capacity
building.
• Support processing/value addition initiatives to reduce wastage of
harvested farm produce
• Create and support Effective partnerships

9. Thank you