Panel Co-Chair, Ousmane Badiane, said: “Much progress has been made, which is heartening. However, significant challenges remain. To achieve the aims set out in the Malabo Declaration and African Union’s Agenda 2063, governments need to learn from past successes and redouble their efforts to tackle the triple scourge of hunger, malnutrition and obesity on the continent. The report clearly demonstrates that progress is possible”

Across Africa, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger dropped from 28% to 20% between 1990 and 2015, although the total number continues to increase due to a rapidly growing population. Some countries have made remarkable progress. Senegal, Ghana and Rwanda have all reduced the number of undernourished people and wasted and stunted children by more than 50%. Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Togo have achieved reductions of more than 40%.

There is still a lot of work to do. Demographic changes and urbanization are adding pressure on food systems to increase yields, at the same time as producing more diverse and nutritious foods. Critical threats include conflict and climate change - which delay progress or even reverse gains in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. The consumption of cheap, nutrient-poor food and reduced physical activity among the middle class is driving up obesity levels. The estimated prevalence of childhood obesity is expected to reach 11% in 2025.

Joachim von Braun, Co-Chair of the Panel said: “Governments are successful in combating malnutrition when they put it at the top of their agenda and implement programmes across departments in close collaboration with partners. Investment is needed in crisis prevention and programmes that build resilience against climate stresses.”

The recommendations in the report, drawn from the example set by successful countries include:

·         Adopt a comprehensive policy on nutrition as a top priority

·         Set up mechanism to coordinate coherent agenda on nutrition across government

·         Invest in crises prevention and emergency intervention capacities to address the threat of conflict to malnutrition reduction

·         Strengthen national agricultural and nutrition research to expand biofortification and other nutrient enrichment programmes

·         Empower women’s groups

·         Capture synergies between agriculture, water, health and sanitation

Ends /

For more information or to request a copy of the report, Nourished: How Africa Can Build A Future Free From Hunger & Malnutrition, or arrange an interview with a Panel membercontact: Katie Ward, di:ga Communications, <link>katie@digacommunications.com or Hawa Diop, MaMo Panel, H.Diop@cgiar.org

About the Malabo Montpellier Panel - <link http: www.mamopanel.org>www.mamopanel.org / @MaMoPanel

The Malabo Montpellier Panel consists of 17 leading African and European experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition, public policy and global development. It supports high-level evidence-based dialogue and policy choices that accelerate progress towards the goals set out in the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Malabo Declaration, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Panel works with African governments and civil society organisations to provide access to data and analysis that facilitates the design and implementation of policies that enhance agriculture, food and nutrition security.

The Malabo Montpellier Panel is a successor to the Montpellier Panel, created in 2010, it puts greater emphasis on African initiatives, such as the Malabo Declaration's expanded Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). It is hosted by the West and Central African Office of the International Food Policy Research Institute, the University of Bonn and Imperial College London and is headquartered in Dakar Senegal.  It is co-chaired by Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director at IFPRI and Professor Joachim von Braun, Director, Center for Development Research, University of Bonn.

List of Panel members

Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Joachim von Braun, Director of the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn.

Debisi Araba, Regional Director for Africa at the CGIAR’s International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

Tom Arnold, Director General for the Institute for International and European Affairs in Dublin and Special Hunger Representative for Concern Worldwide

Noble Banadda, Professor and Chair of the Department of Agricultural and Bio Systems Engineering at Makerere University in Uganda

Patrick Caron, Director of Research and Strategy at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development

Sir Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at Imperial College London

Gebisa Ejeta, Distinguished Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics and International Agriculture at Purdue University

Karim El Aynaoui, Managing Director of OCP Policy Center

Lisa Sennerby Forsse, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry

Sheryl Hendriks, Director of the Institute for Food Nutrition and Well-being at the University of Pretoria, South Africa

Muhammadou M.O. Kah, Rector (Vice President) for Technology & Innovations and Founding Dean and Professor of Information Technology and Communications for the School of Information Technology & Engineering at ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan.                                                                                  

Agnes Kalibata, President of The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Nachilala Nkombo, Interim Africa Executive Director for the ONE Campaign

Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, Director of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD).

Ishmael Sunga, Chief Executive Officer of the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU)

H.E. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, outgoing Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission (AUC)

*) Pressemitteilung in Deutsch siehe download unten.