Mohamed Ag Bendech, Senior Nutrition Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Regional Office for Africa, Ghana

1. Progress Toward Meeting
Nutrition Targets in Africa
Presented by M. Ag Bendech,
19 October 2016, Accra (Ghana )

2. The scale of the problem of
malnutrition in Africa (GNR 2016)
• 163.6 million children and women of
reproductive age are anemic
• 58 million children under age five are
too short for their age (stunting)
• 13.9 million under 5’s weigh too little
for their height (wasting)
• 10.3 million under 5’s are overweight
• 8 percent of adults over 20 years are
obese.

3. The Multiple Burdens of Malnutrition in
African Countries
Under 5 Stun ng rates ≥ 20%
Women’s Anemia rates ≥ 20%
Adult Overweight (BMI ≥ 25)
rates ≥ 35%Ethiopia, Rwanda
Ghana, Senegal
Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cameroon, Central
African Republic, Chad,
Comoros, Congo (Republic of
The), Côte d’Ivoire, Democra c
Republic of the Con-go, Djibou ,
Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,
Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger,
Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe,
Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan,
Togo, Uganda, Tanzania,
Zambia, Zimbabwe
Algeria, Gabon,
Morocco, Seychelles,
Tunisia
Botswana,
Egypt,
Equatorial
Guinea,
Lesotho, Libya,
Namibia,
South Africa,
Swaziland

4. The annual cost of undernutrition in 7 African
countries (www.costofhungerafrica.com)
16.5
11.5
10.3
7.7
6.3 5.6
3.1
Ethiopia Rwanda Malawi Burkina
Faso
Ghana Uganda Swaziland
Annual cost of undernutrition (% of GDP)

5. Investing in nutrition: a wise investment

6. Meeting the Malabo stunting target : the
status
(countries ranked on stunting prevalence in
%)
On course, good progress Off course, some progress Off course, no progress Insufficient data to make
assessment

7. Countries ranked according to stunting (%), lowest to
highest prevalence, and assessment of progress
towards WHA Global Nutrition 2025 target (stunting)
Rank Country
Stuntinggg
% Rank Country Stunting % Rank Country
Stuntin
g %
1 Seychelles 7.9 19 Togo 27.5 37 Tanzania 34.7
2 Tunisia 10.1 20 Zimbabwe 27.6 38 Sierra Leone 37.9
3 Algeria 11.7 21 Guinea-Bissau 27.6 39 Rwanda 37.9
4 Morocco 14.9 22 Angola 29.2 40 Sudan 38.2
5 Gabon 17.5 23 Cote d'Ivoire 29.6 41 Mali 38.5
6 Ghana 18.8 24 South Sudan 31.1 42 Chad 38.7
7 Senegal 19.4 25 Guinea 31.3 43 Zambia 40
8 Libya 21 26 Botswana 31.4 44 Ethiopia 40.4
9 Mauritania 22 27 Sao Tome and Principe 31.6 45 Central African Republic 40.7
10 Egypt 22.3 28 Comoros 32.1 46 Malawi 42.4
11 Namibia 23.1 29 Liberia 32.1 47 DRC 42.6
12 South Africa 23.9 30 Cameroon 32.6 48 Niger 43
13 Gambia 24.5 31 Burkina Faso 32.9 49 Mozambique 43.1
14 Congo 25 32 Nigeria 32.9 50 Madagascar 49.2
15 Swaziland 25.5 33 Lesotho 33.2 51 Eritrea 50.3
16 Somalia 25.9 34 Djibouti 33.5 52 Burundi 57.5
17 Kenya 26 35 Benin 34 Cape Verde No data
18 Equatorial Guinea 26.2 36 Uganda 34.2 Mauritius No data
On course, good progress Off course, some progress Off course, no progress Insufficient data to make assessment

8. Countries ranked according to exclusive breastfeeding
(EBF) of infants <6 months (%), highest to lowest
prevalence, and assessment of progress towards WHA EBF
target
Rank Country EBF Rank Country EBF Rank Country EBF
1 Rwanda 87 19 DRC 47.6 36 Algeria 25.7
2 Sao Tome & Principe 73.8 20 Gambia 46.8 37 Niger 23.3
3 Zambia 72.5 21 South Sudan 45.1 38 Mauritius 21
4 Malawi 70.2 22 Swaziland 44.1 39 Guinea 20.5
5 Burundi 69.3 23 Madagascar 41.9 40 Botswana 20.3
6 Eritrea 68.7 24 Benin 41.4 41 Nigeria 17.4
7 Lesotho 66.9 25 Tanzania 41.1 42 Comoros 12.1
8 Uganda 63.2 26 Mozambique 41 42 Cote d'Ivoire 12.1
9 Kenya 61.4 26 Zimbabwe 41 43 Tunisia 8.5
10 Cape Verde 59.6 27 Egypt 39.7 44 South Africa 8.3
11 Togo 57.5 28 Mali 37.8 45 Equatorial Guinea 7.4
12 Sudan 55.4 29 Central African Republic 34 46 Gabon 6
13 Liberia 55.2 30 Senegal 33 47 Somalia 5.3
14 Guinea-Bissau 52.5 31 Congo 32.9 48 Djibouti 1.3
15 Ghana 52.3 32 Sierra Leone 32 49 Chad 0.3
16 Ethiopia 52 33 Cameroon 28.2 Angola No data
17 Burkina Faso 50.1 34 Morocco 27.8 Libya No data
18 Namibia 48.5 35 Mauritania 26.9 Seychelles No data
On course Off course, some
progress
Off course, no progress Insufficient data to make
assessment

9. Rank Country Wasting % Rank Country Wasting % Rank Country Wasting %
1 Swaziland 2 19 Senegal 5.8 37 Egypt 9.5
2 Rwanda 2.2 20 Cameroon 5.8 38 Guinea 9.9
3 Morocco 2.3 21 Congo 5.9 39 Burkina Faso 10.9
4 Tunisia 2.8 22 Bissau 6 40 Comoros 11.1
5 Lesotho 2.8 23 Mozambique 6.1 41 Sao Tome and Principe 11.2
6 Equatorial Guinea 3.1 24 Burundi 6.1 42 Gambia 11.5
7 Zimbabwe 3.3 25 Zambia 6.3 43 Mauritania 11.6
8 Gabon 3.4 26 Libya 6.5 44 Somalia 14.9
9 Tanzania 3.8 27 Togo 6.7 45 Eritrea 15.3
10 Malawi 3.8 28 Namibia 7.1 46 Mali 15.3
11 Kenya 4 29 Botswana 7.2 47 Chad 15.7
12 Algeria 4.1 30 Central African Republic 7.4 48 Sudan 16.3
13 Seychelles 4.3 31 Cote d'Ivoire 7.6 49 Niger 18.7
14 Uganda 4.3 32 Nigeria 7.9 50 Djibouti 21.5
15 Benin 4.5 33 DRC 8.1 51 South Sudan 22.7
16 Ghana 4.7 34 Angola 8.2 Cape Verde No data
17 South Africa 4.7 35 Ethiopia 8.7 Madagascar No data
18 Liberia 5.6 36 Sierra Leone 9.4 Mauritius No data
On course Off course Insufficient data to make assessment
Countries ranked according to wasting (%), lowest
to highest prevalence, and assessment of progress towards
WHA target

10. Countries ranked according to anaemia (%),
lowest to highest prevalence, and
assessment of progress towards WHA target
Rank Country Anaemia Rank Country Anaemia Rank Country Anaemia
1 Rwanda 17.4 19 Sudan 31.5 36 Equatorial Guinea 45.4
2 Ethiopia 19.2 20 Madagascar 31.8 37 Central African Republic 46
3 Burundi 20.9 21 Algeria 32.7 38 Chad 46.6
4 Seychelles 21.2 21 Namibia 32.7 39 Niger 46.7
5 Mauritius 23.4 22 Eritrea 32.8 40 Guinea 48.4
6 Kenya 25 23 Morocco 33.1 41 Nigeria 48.5
7 Uganda 26.7 24 Egypt 34.5 42 Cote d'Ivoire 48.8
8 Lesotho 26.8 25 Cape Verde 37.9 43 DRC 49
9 Djibouti 27.1 26 Mauritania 39 44 Liberia 49.3
10 South Africa 27.6 27 Tanzania 39.6 45 Burkina Faso 49.5
11 Swaziland 27.8 28 Cameroon 41.5 46 Benin 49.6
12 Libya 27.9 29 Somalia 42.6 47 Congo 50.7
13 Tunisia 28 30 Sao Tome and Principe 42.7 48 Gabon 50.8
14 Zimbabwe 28.4 31 Mozambique 44.2 49 Togo 52.7
15 Botswana 28.5 32 Guinea-Bissau 44.6 50 Mali 56.2
16 Malawi 28.8 33 Angola 44.8 51 Ghana 56.4
17 Zambia 29.2 34 Sierra Leone 45.2 52 Senegal 57.5
18 Comoros 30.8 35 Gambia 45.3 South Sudan No data
Note: Anaemia % is most recent estimate (2011) from Stevens et al, 2013.
Key
On course Off course Insufficient data to make assessment

11. Underlying drivers of improved
nutrition status

12. Thresholds for underlying drivers
Underlying driver Threshold corresponding to
prediction of stunting
prevalence of <15%
Unit
Total per capita calories in food
supply
2800 Kilocalories
Calories from non-staples in food
supply
50 Percent
Access to piped water 69 Percent
Access to improved sanitation 76 Percent
Female secondary school
enrollment rate
81 Percent
Ratio of female to male life
expectancy
1.072 Ratio

13. Number of African countries by number of
vulnerabilities
Number of
Vulnerabilities
Number of
Countries
Names of countries
0 0/6
1 0/14
2 4/14 Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia
3 0/14
4 3/4 Botswana, Morocco, Sao Tome and Principe
5 6/11 Benin, CAR, Ghana, Mauritania, Namibia, Uganda
6 27/35 Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo,
Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, The
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, DRC,
Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo,
Tanzania, Zimbabwe

14. Africa is off track to meet the
nutrition targets of Malabo
Declaration and Global targets
but there is hope

15. The ingredients for
success are well
known… ...and can lead
to rapid
improvements
in nutrition.
Political leadership
& SMART
commitment
Brazil
Ethiopia
Kenya
Maharashtra
Nutrition-
oriented
development
Bangladesh
Colombia
Ghana
Tanzania
Data
Systems
Guatemala
Indonesia
Peru
Strong
implementation
Argentina
Burkina Faso
Chile

16. Commitment by African Countries
The African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN)
Malabo Declaration:
Bring down stunting to 10%
and underweight to 5%
by 2025
Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa
(IFNA)
2nd International Conference on Nutrition: Framework
for Action and the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition

17. Conclusion
• Make the right political choice—supported by SMART
commitments for accountability
• Current commitments do not match the need
• we need a blend of nutrition specific, and nutrition
sensitive actions, supported by an enabling environment
• Predictable and dedicated nutrition financing is essential:
Invest more and allocate better
• Reject business as usual
• Invested in more and better data

18. Thank
you