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September 2013 | Volume 01 | Issue 1 AFRICAN NUTRITION Matters

Official Bulletin of the African Nutrition Society

September 2013 | Volume 01 | Issue 1

AFRICAN NUTRITION Matters

September 2013 | Volume 01 | Issue 1 2 AFRICAN NUTRITION Matters

AFRICAN NUTRITION SOCIETY

African Nutrition Matters is available online at: www.answeb.org

Editors in Chief

Dia Sanou Nonsikelelo Mathe

Layout

Ali Jafri

Editorial Team

Mawuli Hayford Avedzi Robert Fungo Ali Jafri Hanane Labraimi Muniirah Mbabazi Folake Samuel

Technical Advisory Board

Paul Amuna Habiba Hassan Wassef Francis Zotor

Correspondence should be addressed to the managing editor: Email: [email protected]

Cover photo credit: James Forsyth

CONTENT

EDITORIAL

Why African Nutrition

Matters?

Dia Sanou, Nonsikelelo Mathe

3

French column: dans ce

numéro

4

Welcome address from the

African Nutrition Society

Francis Zotor

6

Will Africa take advantage of

the wind of change for

nutrition?

Anna Lartey

8

THEMATIC ARTICLE

Capacity building challen-

ges : Training Gaps in

African Higher Education

Paul Amuna

9

TRIBUTE

Prof. Anna Lartey. President-

elect of the IUNS

12

REGIONAL NEWS

Central Africa Francophone

countries: from food diversity

to nutrition disaster

Djoulde D. Roger

13

Eastern Africa takes on the

SUN movement by storm

through multisectoral enga-

gements

Muniirah Mbabazi, Robert Fungo

15

Nutrition challenges in

North African countries

Hanane Labraimi, Ali Jafri

16

PARTNERS SECTION

The agenda of the

Federation of African

Nutrition Societies

Joyce Kinabo

18

The ECSA regional food

fortification initiative

Josephine Kibaru-Mbae

19

The experience of the

UGAN in the SUN Move-

ment

M. Mbabazi, K.P. Kikomeko

21

AGSNet: the past,

present and future

J. Ashong, H.M. Avedzi

22

The Algerian Society of

Nutrition: a run-up for food

and nutrition in Algeria!

Malika Bouchenak-Khelladi

24

OBITUARY

Prof. Nevin Scrimshaw

25

ANNOUNCEMENTS 26

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/merlune/8607997476/


EDITORIAL

Why African Nutrition Matters?

Dear Reader,

On behalf of the editorial board, we are delighted to unveil the maiden issue of African Nutrition Matters (ANM), the official newsletter of the African Nutrition Society. It has been the desire of the African Nutrition Society (ANS) to produce a newsletter that informs its growing membership and other colleagues around the world about ANS activities as well as current and emerging nutrition is-sues in Africa and the global scene. Following intensive discussion and consultation, it was agreed that ANM should be published as an open-access Newsletter under the umbrel-la of ANS. ANM will be in the first ins-tance published once quarterly in English and salient points summari-zed in French, with the view to increa-se the number of French language articles in the longer term. ANM adopts a style and language that will allow for understanding by the gene-ral public and by those individuals, organizations and sectors that are involved in nutrition related work. Some feature articles can however carry evidence-based contributions with scientific undertones on topical nutrition issues. Although the ANM will often provide ―technical‖ informa-tion in nutrition and embraces a peer-reviewed policy, it is not a “peer re-viewed scientific journal”.

African Nutrition Matters, the official newsletter of the African Nutrition Society, aspires to provide opportuni-ties for our readers and contributors as well as all players in the Africa‖s nutrition scene to tell us their stories

and share experiences across the social development, food security, food safety, food systems, diet and disease spectrum as well as success stories and interventions to tackle these problems in the different re-gions of Africa. African Nutrition Mat-ters aims to be at the forefront of sharing the news of the successes and challenges of the various nutri-tion initiatives happening on the Afri-can continent. It is a compilation of contributions from a wide spectrum of organizations or individuals who directly participate and advocate for the fight against malnutrition on the African continent. It is a platform for contributors to share their views and provide thought-provoking articles, which serve to inform, educate and entertain, but carry a serious nutri-tion message as well.

The Newsletter is presented in sec-tions: Regional News which feature news and stories from East, West, South, North, and Central Africa; Part-ners section invites interest groups such as AGSNet, FANUS, IUNS, etc. to post articles on their projects or ac-tivities; Thematic section covers aca-demic/scientific/programmatic con-tent on a topical issue and will often include “Invited Expert Commentary”; Tributes which feature ANS members, other personalities and awards; An-nouncements and News will give up-dates on upcoming conferences, training, workshops, adverts from educational institutions and other relevant information; Reviews will report book or article reviews. Read-ers will also have an opportunity to write a Letter to the editor. We hope that this first issue serves as an out-let to introduce nutrition issues in the continent. Future issues will fo-cus on various aspects of African nu-trition agenda.

ANM is managed by an editorial team comprised of an editorial committee, and a technical advisory board. Our editorial team includes several Afri-can scientists with a passion for nu-trition and for the continent. They are located in all five regions of the conti-nent and abroad. We acknowledge the voluntary devotion of the time of the editorial committee members to this challenging task. We also thank the technical advisory board for their support and guidance to the editorial team.

Our ambition is to increase the num-ber of issues per year, a challenging effort from contributors that will make sense only if readers find the newsletter interesting, useful and enriching. We therefore welcome your feedback and suggestions to help us improve the quality of the Newsletter. You will be in position to give us feedback and subscribe to receive the newsletter automatically on the website.

Any questions or suggestions should be direct to: [email protected]

Thank you for reading!

Dia Sanou Co-editor in chief

Nonsikelelo Mathe Co-editor in chief


French column: dans ce numéro

African Nutrition Matters (ANM): le bulletin officiel de la Société Africaine de Nutrition

C‖est avec plaisir que la Société Africaine de Nutrition (ANS) vous présente le pre-mier numéro de African Nutrition Mat-ters (ANM). Ce bulletin est né de la vo-lonté de l‖ANS de se doter d‖un organe d‖information à l‖intention de ses mem-bres et de tous ceux qui sont intéressés par les questions de nutrition en Afrique. Il sera publié en ligne avec accès libre et gratuit, sous les auspices de la Société Africaine de Nutrition. ANM sera dispon-ible dans un premier temps, en Anglais tous les trois mois, avec les points clés résumés en Français ; le but à long terme étant de publier des articles com-plet en Français. Le bulletin adopte un style et un langage compréhensible par le grand public et par tous ceux qui sont impliqués ou qui ont un intérêt pour la nutrition en Afrique. Certains articles seront toutefois des contributions scien-tifiques sur des thématiques précises. Toutefois, African Nutrition Matters ne saurait être considéré comme une revue scientifique avec comité de lecture, même si les articles proposés sont évalués par au moins deux personnes.

Le bulletin est organisé en sections dont entre autres une section sur les Nou-velles Régionales, une section réservée aux Partenaires de l‖ANS, une Section Thématique ainsi que des annonces et des nouvelles.

Par ailleurs, chaque édition mettra en vedette, dans la section Tribute, une personnalité qui aura apporté une con-tribution importante à l‖avancement de l‖agenda de la nutrition en Afrique et/ou aux activités de l‖ANS. Les lecteurs auront aussi l‖opportunité de réagir ou de s‖adresser à l‖équipe éditoriale à travers une lettre à l‖éditeur. L‖équipe éditoriale est composée d‖un comité

éditorial et d‖un ensemble de conseillers techniques.

Ce numéro inaugural présente une intro-duction à la problématique nutrition-nelle en Afrique. Dans l‖éditorial, les Co-éditeurs en chef du bulletin, expliquent le contexte de la création du bulletin, sa vision, sa raison d‖être, la raison derrière le choix du nom “African Nutrition Mat-ters” ainsi que la ligne éditoriale. Ainsi, selon Drs. Sanou & Mathe, le nom African Nutrition Matters revêt un certain dual-isme:

1) African Nutrition Matters qui traduit les problèmes de nutrition des popula-tions Africaines que le bulletin se pro-pose de rapporter et de partager avec un public au-delà des milieux académique et professionnel ; 2) Africa Nutrition [does] Matter qui traduit le fait que la nutrition en Afrique pose problème dans la recherche de solutions à cause de la complexité des nombreux défis et des obstacles majeurs sur le continent, résultant en de faibles progrès.

Le bulletin African Nutrition Matters donne l‖opportunité aux membres de l‖ANS, à ses lecteurs ainsi qu‖aux divers acteurs de la lutte contre la malnutrition en Afrique, de raconter leurs histoires et partager leurs experiences dans les dif-férents secteurs comme le développe-ment social, la sécurité alimentaire, la salubrité des aliments, les systèmes agricoles et alimentaires, l‖alimentation et la maladie.

Message de bienvenue

Profitant de son message de bienvenue à la fois au bulletin et à ses lecteurs et contributeurs, le Président de la Société Africaine de Nutrition (ANS), Dr Francis Zotor après avoir présenté la vision de ANS pour l‖ANM, a brièvement rappelé les missions et les objectifs de l‖ANS ainsi que ses projets futures. Il a, par la suite, invité la communauté des acteurs de la nutrition en Afrique a non seulement célébrer la naissance de ce nouvel or-gane d‖information et à le soutenir, mais

également à rejoindre la Société Afri-caine de Nutrition pour qu‖ensemble, nous conjuguions nos efforts pour réus-sir le défi de l‖éradication de la malnutri-tion sur le continent.

Un vent de changement

Dans l‖article intitulé «The wind of change for nutrition is here: Will Africa take advantage of this?» ,Prof. Anna Lartey, Présidente entrante de l‖Union international des sciences de la nutri-tion (IUNS), se demande si l‖Afrique pourra profiter amplement du vent mondial de changement en faveur de la nutrition. L‖auteure donne des stratégies pouvant contribuer à l‖avancement des objectifs nutritionnels sur le continent. Entre autres, elle évoquel‖opportuni-téque cela représente pour les gou-vernants de mobiliser les ressources pour les programmes de nutrition, de créer des environnements institution-nels favorables à la nutrition et dedévelopper des partenariats pour ac-croître, prioriser et mettre en œuvre leurs propres politiques et programmes. Tous ces processus doivent être pilotés par les africains, qui ne doivent s‖es-timer vainqueur de la malnutrition que lorsque la malnutrition sera totalement éliminé. Prof. Lartey, qui vient par ail-leurs d‖être recrutée comme Chef de la Division Nutrition de l‖Organisation pour l‖Agriculture et l‖Alimentation, promet de placer au cœur de son action à la tête de l‖IUNS, le renforcement des capacités, la pierre angulaire pour le passage à l‖é-chelle (Scaling Up) des interventions efficaces. Elle conclut en disant que si nous manquons l‖occasion de diminuer significativement les taux élevés de mal-nutrition sur le continent au moment où la nutrition est au sommet des priorités de développement, ça serait une grande perte que les générations futures auront du mal à rattraper.

L‖un des défis majeurs pour la nutrition en Afrique est le renforcement des ca-pacités. C‖est l‖objet de la contribution thématique de Dr Paul Amuna. L‖auteur situe la problématique nutritionnelle


africaine dans une perspective interna-tionale avant de rappeler les initiatives mondiales pour l‖éradiquer. Se fondant sur la publication récente de la seconde série de la prestigieuse revue The Lancet sur la malnutrition maternelle et infan-tile en faveur de la nutrition, il dresse un portrait sombre de la malnutrition sur le continent qui abrite à lui seul, 22 des 34 (65%) pays ayant le plus grand fardeau de la malnutrition. Selon l‖auteur, pen-dant que de nombreux enfants continu-ent à être les martyrs des différentes formes de malnutrition, les maladies chroniques relatives à l‖alimentation, les changements d‖habitude de vie et les facteurs de risque sous jacents de l‖obésité sont en nette progression. Dans leurs efforts, les acteurs font face à de nombreux défis collectivement appelés les défis de la mise en œuvre et parmi lesquels on peut citer un faible engage-ment politique, une insuffisance de mo-yens financiers, des capacités tech-niques et institutionnelles inadéquats, des faibles capacités de résilience des populations, des conflits sociopolitiques récurrents et des catastrophes naturelles.

La communauté scientifique, les gou-vernements, l‖industrie, les agences des Nations Unies et d‖autres organisations internationales ainsi que la société civile collaborent actuellement pour relever ces défis. Mais les questions les plus pressantes qui se posent parfois à nous sont : Qui va conduire le proces-sus? Où se trouve la main d‖œuvre qui fera le travail? Qui seront les champi-ons? L‖auteur de conclure que la clé de-meure l‖investissement dans la forma-tion des nutritionnistes qualifiés, ayant une perspective multisectorielle du problème et qui ont aussi des compe-tences managériales et de leadership. Pour cela, notre compréhension du ren-forcement des capacités doit aller au delà de la formation des professionnels et intégrer les concepts de capacitéss-tratégiques. Cette notion de capacités stratégiques réfère au renforcement de l‖environnement institutionnel de la nu-trition dans son ensemble, les mécanis-

mes de coordination et de mise en œu-vre, le leadership, le management stratégique, les systèmes d‖information et l‖apprentissage collaboratif. L‖obten-tion de résultats durables en nutrition n‖est possible qu‖en réunissant les deux conditions: former davantage de profes-sionnels en nutrition et renforcer les capacities stratégiques des pays Afri-cains.

L‖Union internationale des sciences de la nutrition ayant eu l‖opportunité de s‖ex-primer à travers la Prof. Anna Lartey, la section Partenaires a donné l‖occasion aux autres partenaires traditionnels de l‖ANS en l‖occurrence la Fédération Afri-caine des Sociétés de Nutrition (FANUS) etle Réseau des Etudiants Gradués en Nutrition (AGSNet). Deux organisations professionnelles nationales ont eu l‖oc-casion de se faire découvrir par les lec-teurs ; il s‖agit d‖UGAN(Uganda Action for Nutrition) et la Société Algérienne de Nutrition (SAN).

Pour l‖ensemble de ses œuvres en faveur de l‖avancement de la nutrition en Afri-que, son leadership continental et inter-national et son rôle modèle et inspira-teur pour la nouvelle génération, ANM a rend un vibrant hommage à Dr. Anna Lartey, Professeure agrégée à l‖Univer-sité de Legon au Ghana dans ce numéro inaugural. Ancienne présidente de l‖ANS, Prof. Lartey est la Présidente entrante de l‖Union Internationale des Sciences de la Nutrition (IUNS), la plus importante or-ganization professionnelle savante au niveau mondiale. Elle vient d‖être égale-ment recrutée à la tête de la Division Nutrition de l‖Organisation des Nations Unies pour l‖Agriculture et l‖Alimentation (FAO), ou elle prendra fonction le 1er octobre 2013. Elle est constamment invi-tée à donner des conférences, elle a reçu plusieurs distinctions et publié plu-sieurs articles scientifiques. Elle porte haut le flambeau de la nutrition et fait honneur à l‖Afrique.

Par ailleurs, L‖ANS partage la peine qu‖é-prouve la famille Scrimshaw et la com-munauté internationale de la nutrition

suite au décès du Prof. Nevin Stewart Scrimshaw, fondateur de la Fondation Internationale pour la Nutrition, rappelé à Dieu le 8 février 2013. La communauté internationale a perdu un ardent ac-teurde lanutrition, et la fondation qu‖il a créé et qui s‖appelle désormais “Nevin Scrimshaw International Nutrition Foun-dation” a mis en place un prix en son nom Nevin Scrimshaw Foundation Ad-

vancement Fund qui apportera un soutien aux actions de renforcement des capacités en recherche dans les pays en développement.

Bonne lecture !

Dia Sanou Co-editor in chief

Hanane Labraimi Editorial team

Ali Jafri Editorial team


Welcome message from the African Nutrition

Society

I have the pleasure of welcoming you

to The African Nutrition Society‖s first newsletter. This is a monumen-

tal journey you will be taking with us

as you have the pleasure of reading

this newsletter and subsequent ones that will be posted on-line on

quarterly basis. A lot of good work is

being done across the African conti-

nent but sadly for so long; this excel-lent piece of work goes unreported

either at sub-regional level or conti-

nent-wide. The African Nutrition So-

ciety thinks it is about time readers across Africa benefit from an on-line

knowledge resource for nutrition-

related issues on Africa aimed at

equipping readers with research and information on the continent‖s wide

ranging nutritional issues.

African Nutrition Society and its

ethos

For those of you who are for the very first time getting to know about the

African Nutrition Society (ANS), it is

the leading professional body dedi-

cated to promoting the nutrition agenda on the continent of Africa

(www.answeb.org). The ANS oversees

the biennial African Nutrition Epide-miology Conferences (ANEC), which

started in 2002 in South Africa. Sub-

sequently, ANEC has run biennial

conferences across Africa at sub-regional locations. Following the

successes of the first three confer-

ences in 2002 (South Africa), 2006

(Ghana) and 2008 (Egypt) the key founding members found it neces-

sary to form an umbrella organisa-

tion to oversee ANEC as well as ex-

pand into other areas of relevance that would promote the nutrition

agenda across the continent of Af-

rica. This led to the establishment of

ANS in 2008 as a registered scientific professional movement; a learned

society formed by nutritional scien-

tists, food scientists and other

health professionals working in, and with an interest in the nutrition

agenda for Africa.

As the professional scientific forum

and voice for Africa‖s nutrition and

health, the vision of ANS is to create

a unified continental nutrition pro-fession of individual members, pro-

vide a continental professional sci-

entific forum, promote training, re-

search and capacity building in nu-trition and contribute to workforce

development to meet Africa‖s nutri-

tion and health policy agenda. Our

mission is to promote collegiality and bring together individuals

across Africa and other parts of the

world to work together towards

building and promoting the nutrition profession and practice in Africa.

Our ultimate goal is to provide a

home for nutritional scientists and

other allied professionals, and to

contribute to programmes and pro-

jects aimed at improving nutrition in Africa and reducing the burden of

disease.

ANS is bound by a constitution and

has its headquarters in Accra,

Ghana. It is governed by a board of

Trustees that has been drawn from the geographical regions of the Afri-

can continent. The Society currently

has four sub-regional representa-

tives (Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern Africa) who are the

contact points and through whom

the Society‖s activities can be chan-

nelled.

Future activities of the ANS

Future Activities the ANS shall be fo-cusing on in the near future include:

Plans to hold training workshops in

the year preceding its biennial ANEC

event at the sub-region where it plans to hold its conference.

The creation of a Nutrition e-

Learning Hub in partnership with the

Nutrition Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the American Society for

Nutrition, the Federation of African

Nutrition Societies and leading

membership organisations of nutri-tion academics that will bring to-

gether academic leaders in nutri-

tional science to provide open ac-

cess, capacity building courses in nutrition to an African and world-

wide audience.

The development of a professional

practice framework leading to pro-fessional registration and accredita-

tion, and with a longer term view to

harmonisation of nutrition training

http://www.answeb.org


across African Higher Education in-

stitutions.

Development of public-private part-

nerships and linkages (and strength-

ening existing ones) with the scien-

tific and academic communities, industry, non-governmental organi-

sations and international agencies

for the benefit of ANS members and

the wider public interest.

The UN Declaration on Chronic Dis-

ease in September 2012 (signed up

to by Member States) further gives

prominence to a subject with nutri-tion as a core component in their

natural history, prevention and their

treatment. The UN‖s recognition that

its own targets for countries reach-ing the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) that it set itself by 2015

are unachievable particularly in

most high burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa provide further impe-

tus for action, but by whom?

Civil society, professional groups as

well as business and industry have all been engaged in attempts to find

common ground for addressing the

global nutrition burdens as evi-

denced by the increasing interest shown by the latter in having a SUN

Steering group (Network) dedicated

to Business and Industry and finan-

cial and other commitments already ―pledged‖ by a number of organisa-

tions in support of the global efforts

on nutrition under MDG 8. The Afri-

can Nutrition Society in my view has a central role to play in providing

both leadership and the cadre of

professionals to help find solutions

to the myriad of nutritional prob-lems on the continent. These are

thus both challenging and exciting

times what we should embrace and step up to.

ANS vision for the African Nutrition

Matters

African Nutrition Matters (ANM) will

be the official newsletter of (and for)

the membership of the ANS. This newsletter will inform primarily our

members, educate and broaden

their scope of action with nutrition

related topics and/or issues. It will also provide information to a wider

readership about the Society, its

members and their activities across

Africa‖s different regions and coun-tries. Furthermore, ANM will be a

platform for highlighting key nutri-

tional matters either going on in Af-

rica or affecting Africa and Africans.

With current developments both in

terms of meeting MDG challenges

and SUN as well as addressing

chronic NCDs in Africa, existing WHO tools with a major focus on nutri-

tional components can only be ad-

dressed through multidisciplinary

approaches where all members of the health team are recognised, ap-

preciated and allowed to make their

contribution to achieving common

clinical and public health goals. The Africa Nutrition Society seeks to pro-

vide a ―linking bridge‖ to help bring

all relevant stakeholders to the table

to harness our collective efforts and strengths for improved nutrition in

Africa.

This newsletter comes into being at

a challenging yet exciting time in global health and should be an excel-

lent mouthpiece and forum both for

scientific technical articles and a

platform for sharing ideas with our

partner learned societies from Europe, Asia, North and South Amer-

ica as well as international develop-

ment partners, civil society and in-

dustry. To this end, the ANM pledges to keep the world abreast with sci-

ence and technology news, innova-

tions and ideas in the exciting, ever-

changing world of nutrition on the African continent.

ANM is also a forum for young nutri-

tion scientists and students to share

their experiences and contribute to debates and to building ―Africa‖s Nu-

trition Story‖.

I hope you will find this newsletter

not only an enjoyable piece to read but will also find the articles very

informative and reflective of nutri-

tion events across the continent of

Africa. I therefore invite you to join me in celebrating the birth of this

great newsletter and indeed one of

several volumes that has come to

stay. Please join me in extending appreciation to the ANM editorial

team and the advisors without

whose efforts and drive this newslet-

ter would still have been in the fig-ment of the imagination of ANS lead-

ership.

Francis Zotor President of the African Nutrition Society


The wind of change for nutrition is here: Will

Africa take advantage of this?

Anna Lartey

The momentum around nutrition in

the last two years has been unprece-

dented. Nutrition is now part of the

strategy of many development or-ganizations. At no time has the world

been so united in the fight against

malnutrition, especially undernutri-

tion. It all started with the Millen-nium Development Goals in 2000. By

2007 it was obvious that high under-

nutrition burdened countries will

not achieve many of the goals in the estimated time frame of 2015. The

Lancet nutrition series of 2008 drew

attention to the fact that proven in-

terventions exist. Yet it has taken the global nutrition community too

long to act. The cost of undernutri-

tionin human development terms

for sub-Saharan Africa is enormous. This has been articulated in the re-

cent Africa Human Development In-

dex Report (UNDP 2012).

The wind of change for nutrition is

here. How can sub-Sahara Africa take advantage of this opportunity to

address undernutrition? African gov-

ernments must take advantage of

this positive environment to draw resources for their nutrition pro-

grams. Governments‖ own commit-

ment must be seen in the allocation

of resources to nutrition. Countries must develop, prioritize and own

their nutrition policies and pro-

grams.

We need those strong voices

(champions) to keep nutrition on the radar as long as possible. We should

not consider the work done until

malnutrition is totally eliminated

from our midst. As Africans we should lead the fight against malnu-

trition on the continent. We feel the

pinch hardest.

The complexity of the nutrition prob-

lem requires the building of partner-ships across disciplines and stake-

holders. This is what the Scaling Up

Nutrition (SUN) Movement promotes

through the formation of multi-stakeholder platforms at country

level to ensure that nutrition is inte-

grated into all sector programs.We

cannot scale up nutrition programs without building capacity at all levels

from community through district,

regional and national.

There are success stories around the

world we can learn from. How did Brazil and many of the South Ameri-

can countries do it? Let‖s learn from

them and adapt their strategies to

the situation in Africa.

For the International Union of Nutri-

tional Sciences (IUNS), a “world with-out malnutrition” remains a vision

we will continue to work towards

achieving. Building capacity of the

next generation of nutrition scien-tists remains our focus. As the in-

coming President of IUNS, I look for-

ward to working with our Adhering

and Affiliated Bodies to support ca-pacity building efforts. As a coalition

of professional nutrition associa-

tions, we must make ourselves rele-

vant by providing the support needed to countries to scale up nu-

trition interventions. Currently of

the 41 countries that have joined the

SUN, 24 of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. Adhering Bodies in each of

these countries can contribute in

supporting the scaling up nutrition

agenda.

Nutrition is now at the top of the

global agenda. This is the opportu-nity to grab it, run with it and deliver

results. If we miss this unique oppor-

tunity to bring down malnutrition, it

will be a big loss indeed.

Anna Lartey President-elect of the IUNS


THEMATIC ARTICLE

Capacity building challenges : Training Gaps in African Higher Education Paul Amuna The greatest challenges of nutrition and food security facing Africa are nothing new and although some coun-tries have been able to better manage these chal-lenges, the majority of countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa are far failing to meet targets set for reducing poverty, improving food security and health within the context of the United Nations‖ targets for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. For many in Africa, the UN MDGs muted as a ―benchmark for assessing both the attainment and national progress in nutrition as a marker of develop-ment, remain ambitious and elusive whilst in other parts of the world particularly Latin America and Asia, significant country-level and regional progress has been made in achieving the goals. At the same time, there are the “high burden countries”, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, who remain deeply rooted in poor performance and the focus of the UN now is to undertake concerted efforts with ―PLAN B ―, the “post 2015 MDG Agenda”. This one presumes is a fail-safe process to plug the gap for those countries ―falling through the cracks‖. Addressing these major challenges of food and nutri-tion security as well as the emerging chronic nutrition-related non-communicable diseases requires joint thinking, integrated and multi-disciplinary approaches across sectors including health, agriculture, economics and civil society advocacy. These approaches also have implications for workforce development in all these sectors and areas to provide the human resources to deal with the issues in the short, medium and longer terms. Furthermore, a political will is fundamental to the development of credible national food and nutri-tion policies necessary to guide implementation of any plans and strategies aimed at adequately addressing health and nutrition needs at country and regional lev-els.

From a historical perspective, the nutritional and health challenges facing Africa were a common feature in Europe as recently as the beginning of the 20th Cen-tury and in the United Kingdom. Such concerns led to serious advocacy and actions by scientists and nutri-tionists such as Boyd Orr, Cuthbertson and John Water-low.. Within Africa, Drs Mamdour Gabr, Wassef, Sai and Ofosu-Armaahled and championed the cause for nutri-tion over decades. These pioneers in Nutrition Advo-cacy and professional action for nutrition were among the first to explore more globally the problems and im-pact of severe undernutrition. They also went further to form a global scientific alliance, the international un-ion of nutritional sciences to both promote intellectual thought and research as well as provide the scientific underpinning and technical support for interventions in nutrition. Dr Cecily Williams, Cuthbertson, John Wa-terlow and Nevin Scrimshaw who were mentors and the inspiration for many of today‖s leading nutritional sci-entists including some African nutrition leaders. Today, there remain global concerns about the multiple burden of disease in developing WHO regions, particu-larly in Africa, Asia and Latin America where the 36 countries with the highest burden of undernutrition and poor nutrition governance are located (The Lancet 2008; WHO, 2010; WHO.SCN/UNU/ 2009), and where the disparity between the ―haves and have-nots‖ and pov-erty, chronic hunger and food insecurity remain an everyday experience of hundreds of millions. Addressing Current Global and Africa Nutritional Chal-lenges With the strong backing of United Nations leadership, the initiative for Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) is now at the top of the political and developmental agenda. The SUN Civil Society Network was formally inaugurated on June 11th, 2013 in Washington DC and several key mem-bers of the ANS were (and are still) at the heart of its activities. For example, the ANS is currently spearhead-ing a continent-wide SUN Academic Platform that will among others, undertake in-country research into in-novative nutrition solutions, analyze the evidence base for nutrition actions, identify data gaps and develop a research agenda to help fill in the gaps. As was so eloquently and passionately argued and led by Dr David Nabbaro (UN Secretary-General Ban Ki


Moon‖s Special Representative on the SUN Agenda) at the recent launch of the second Lancet series on 6th June 2013 in London, “there is still much to do” despite tangible gains that have been captured in the Lancet Series. But the question is: who will drive the proc-esses? Who will do the work? Who are the ―foot sol-diers‖? Where is the workforce and who are the “champions” and the ―unsung heroes‖? Whilst we ponder these global and continental chal-lenges of addressing the impact and importance of un-dernutrition, on the flip side chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) associated with diet and lifestyles are on the increase, adding to the burden of disease and health care costs in these same poor countries in developing countries. The irony lies in the fact that poverty, chronic hunger, maternal undernutri-tion and early childhood nutritional challenges in these countries have both a direct and indirect bearing on risk of NCDs later in life. Thus these same survivors or ―veterans of the early malnutrition wars‖ which started in the poorly nourished mother‖s womb through nutri-tion programming, carry a higher burden of NCDs whose expression depends on the environment and their ―life fortunes‖. Of particular significance in the current discourse on nutrition is the need for urgent action to reverse the current trends across the spectrum of malnutrition through ―scaling up‖ approaches of what we know works. That we know “what works” cannot be gainsaid and ample evidence is provided by a number of studies and reviews including one by the SCN and the Asian De-velopment Bank (Allen & Gillespie, 2001) as far back as 2001; and more recently the Lancet Series on maternal, infant and young child nutrition (The Lancet, 2008; 2013). Over the last six decades (and more), a top-down, out-in‖ external / donor-led and ―vertical‖ approach has characterised interventions aimed at addressing devel-opmental needs including in nutrition. Institutions, scientists and professionals from the “West” industrial-ised countries with access to grant / program funding have often “partnered” their counterparts in “Southern” poor countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere to under-take interventions aimed at “addressing” nutritional problems. Laudable though this is, it continues to give

the impression of ―infants still drinking milk‖ instead of growing up, preparing and eating their own solid food when it comes to Africa. This approach is simply unten-able and unsustainable in 21st Century Africa. Strengthening Capacity to Address Nutritional Chal-lenges It is well known that one of the greatest stumbling blocks for improved nutrition is lack of workforce ca-pacity. It is ironic, that globally, anyone can call them-selves a “nutritionist”. Trained nutritional scientists get upset and refer to others as “quacks”, “charlatans” and what have you. Whereas in countries across Europe, America, parts of Asia, Latin America and Southern Af-rica attempts are being made to streamline the nutri-tion “profession” and provide benchmarks for profes-sional recognition and registration (in some cases with a protected title), no one can really blame those who though not “trained as nutritionists” are nonetheless working IN NUTRITION in parts of the world where the need is greatest. These ―foot soldiers‖ remain the main hope for vulnerable groups in many poor, ―unreachable‖ communities. As the latest Lancet Series has shown (The Lancet, 2013) there is ample evidence from Ethio-pia and parts of India of the effectiveness of these barely trained ―illiterate and semiliterate‖ mostly fe-male “Village or Community Health Workers” providing nutrition education and nutritional support with some tangible benefits to the communities they serve. Strengthening capacity to address the issues high-lighted here requires addressing institutional struc-tures as well as human capacity and a trained work-force. Such a workforce which constitutes the human capacity needed should not be limited only to trained nutritional scientists, although for the purposes of this article, the focus is mainly to highlight the need for well trained nutrition professionals to lead in the fight against nutrition-related disease. That we need a pro-fessionally competent workforce to lead in Africa‖s “nutrition agenda” is without question. There are a number of training institutions including Universities which continue to ―churn out‖ graduates with some background in nutrition spanning home economics to dietetics and food science and technology; and some schools of agriculture which also produce graduates of nutrition. The obvious question is – what is the nature and depth of training and what are the competencies


that these graduates possess to be given the nutrition label, and to operate as such? Is there scope to exam-ine and review their training and opportunities to im-prove training to better align them with the growing workforce needs for scaling up nutrition interventions? There is no doubt in my mind that there is a place at the table for all the various groups (both literate and illiterate) currently working in nutrition in Africa. The question is how we harmonise, categorise and place their roles to reflect their training, competencies and recognition within the “nutrition fraternity”. This is a subject for much debate but which in my own view, should be past the debate stage, and rather be seeking simple, sensible, realistic and effective answers: How can we create and utilise all the talent we have to sup-port short, medium and long term efforts to scale up nutrition and improve health and wellbeing across the continent? For the trained nutrition professionals, where do they fit in in terms of the health workforce? If they are cur-rently not fully recognised as a profession allied to medicine, is it not about time that nutritionists made themselves more visible and were so recognised and brought to the table of health care delivery under the relevant health ministry umbrella? Whilst I raise these thought-provoking questions, how far have we as nutri-tionists come in structuring our own training pro-grammes to reflect national health and nutrition needs, and to make our graduates truly and practically useful players in the wider health agenda? How can trained African nutritionists of all categories contribute meaningfully to the drive to Scale up Nutri-tion interventions and reduce the burden of nutrition-related problems across the life spectrum in Africa unless their training is fit-for-purpose? Without a trained, competent and recognised workforce, I very much doubt that we can meet the challenges of ad-dressing current nutritional problems let alone “scale them Up” over the medium to long term. So the mes-sage for the “Scaling Up Nutrition movement” and for national governments in Africa is this: You cannot, and must not ignore the nutrition workforce in all your cal-culations from policy to implementation of those poli-cies including funding support for training and capacity building. You certainly cannot ignore this cadre of

workers as an important part of the mainstream health delivery system and they must be given due recogni-tion.

It is clear that none of our countries in Africa can suc-cessfully address their national nutrition and health challenges and meet their developmental targets with-out a properly trained workforce, nor can they achieve these goals if the institutions of learning are weak, poorly resourced and / or unable to provide the neces-sary training fit-for-purpose. It is also worth recognis-ing and emphasising the fact that the human capacity needs for nutrition go beyond “trained nutritionists” and indeed must include training e.g. in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, economics, other health and al-lied sciences and the social sciences. Folks, we have work to do to the support SUN and beyond, and there is little time for debates. This is the time for action, by all the relevant actors.

1. The Lancet (2008). The Lancet series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition. Lancet 2008; 371:243-621

2. The Lancet (2013). 2013 Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition. Lancet382 :15-118. www.thelancet.com/series/maternal-and-child-nutrition

3. Allen LH & Gillespie SR (2001). What Works? A Review of the efficacy and effectiveness of nutrition interven-tions. UN ACC/SCN in collaboration with Asian Develop-ment Bank. ACC / SCN Nutrition Policy Paper No. 19. 123 p.

4. WHO (2010). Outcomes of the Landscape Analysis Coun-try Assessments (2010). www.who.int/nutrition/lanscape_analysis.

Paul Amuna MB ChB (MD); M.MedSci; RNutr; FRSM

http://www.thelancet.com/series/maternal-and-child-nutrition

http://www.thelancet.com/series/maternal-and-child-nutrition

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TRIBUTE

Dr. Anna Lartey

A renowned African nutritionist and educationalist was on July 22, 2013 appointed Director for the Nutrition Division, at the FAO Headquarters in Rome. Her tenure commences October 1, 2013. This comes at such an appropriate time when Africa is grappling with malnutrition and its consequences. Before her appointment to the FAO, Dr. Lartey has been an Associate Pro-

fessor and former Head of Department, Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Legon. She received the prestig-ious Fulbright scholarship to pursue her doctoral studies at University of California, Davis and graduated with a Ph.D. in

International Nutrition in 1998. She received her B.Sc. Bio-chemistry-Nutrition from the University of Ottawa, Canada, completed a dietetic internship at Kingston General Hospital, Canada and received her M.Sc. Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph, Canada. She is also a graduate of the Afri-can Nutrition Leadership Program. She is currently The Presi-

dent-Elect of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS), and holds the International Development Research Center (IDRC, Canada) Research Chair in Nutrition for Health and Socio-Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

She has accomplished several scientific studies, publications and received accolades for her work in maternal and child nutrition, food and agriculture. On the international scene Dr. Lartey was Co-Principal Investigator for the WHO Multicenter Growth Reference Study, Ghana site, served on several WHO

Expert consultations on child nutrition and currently leads the Ghana delegation to the Codex Committee on Nutrition for Special Dietary uses (CCNFSDU), where Ghana chairs the elec-tronic working group to revise the Codex Guidelines on Formu-lated Supplementary Foods for Older Infants and Young Chil-dren, and a Co-Investigator on a randomized trial assessing the effects of three micronutrient supplements (Nutributter®,

Sprinkles® and Foodlet) on growth and micronutrient status of Ghanaian children. She has served on WHO Expert Consulta-tions on: Optimum duration of exclusive breastfeeding; Com-

plementary feeding; Childhood obesity; Nutrient risk assess-ment. On the local scene Dr. Lartey‖s research focus has been on food habits of Ghanaian pregnant women, complementary feeding, factors affecting the growth of Ghanaian children, as well as studies on optimizing nutrition for HIV-affected chil-dren among others. In 2012, she was awarded the Ghana Women of Excellence Awards 2012 in recognition of her contri-bution to Science Education and Nutrition Research in Ghana, and previously in 2004 shewon the "Best Researcher" award at

the University of Ghana.

As a mentor, Prof. Lartey has invested quality time and re-sources into providing advanced training for the next genera-tion of nutrition researchers who are excelling in academia, industry, and government both in Africa and the rest of the world.

Dr. Lartey extends her experience in nutrition to several local and international boards and Committees including MRC Inter-national Nutrition Group‖s Scientific Advisory Committee; Council of the African Nutrition Society; Food and Nutrition

Bulletin Editorial Board; Biodiversity International Scientific Advisory Council; Harvest Plus Program Advisory Committee and GAIN. She serves as a co-facilitator for the task force on coordination of civil society for the Scaling Up Nutrition. She was the Chairperson of the Africa Nutritional Epidemiology Conference from 2006 to 2009.Dr.Anna Lartey with the support of her collaborators has established a Nutrition Research and Training Center at Asesewa in the Eastern region of Ghana to apply their research findings to improve the nutritional status

of vulnerable children in rural communities. From here, a sum-

mer dietetic/nutrition exchange program is also held and has attracted students from prestigious universities in Canada and the United States.

Dr. Lartey has not only succeeded in her career. She has also worked hard to keep a healthy and happy family. She is very happily married to a very supportive man and they have two awesome children. She is also very active in her local Church and community where she contributes to the welfare and de-

velopment of others.

Photo credit: Bread of the world

http://www.flickr.com/photos/breadfortheworld/5837599644/


REGIONAL NEWS

Central Africa Francophone countries:

from food diversity to nutrition disaster

Djoulde Darman Roger, Ph.D Food Sciences and Nutrition

University of Maroua, Cameroon

Central Africa Francophone coun-

tries are a group of states geographi-

cally located in the center of Africa. They are grouped for the majority;

within the community of states of

Central Africa whose acronym in

French is CEMAC. The CEMAC zone includes six countries: Cameroon,

Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea,

the Central African Republic and

Chad. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville and

Rwanda complete the list of CEMAC

states to form the Sub Saharan

French-speaking countries. In 2010, the population of this region of Af-

rica was estimated at more than 60

million. The cultural and biological

diversity within the area have brought the region a variety in terms

of nutritional perspectives.

Geographical location: Favor-able for both cultivated food

crops and food from biodiver-sity

In fact, this sub-region is often

rightly called "Africa in Miniature". This is not only because of its loca-

tion in the heart of Africa but also

because of its agro ecological posi-

tion, considering the classification by FAO (2012), in terms of agro eco-

logical zones (RAEZs). The central

African zone comprise all the 4

zones of Africa theRAEZ1 Warm arid and semi-arid tropics (Chad and

Parts of Cameroon and Central Afri-

can Republic), the RAEZ 2 Warm sub

humid tropics (Part of Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic),

theRAEZ 3 Warm humid tropics

(South Cameroon, Central African

Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of

Congo), and lastly the RAEZ 4 Cool

tropics (Rwanda, and parts of De-

mocratic republic of Congo). This rich agro ecological diversity is fa-

vorable for wide varieties of crops,

legumes, cereals and roots

crops. Such crop diversity is ex-pected to be sufficient to boost the

nutrition status of the local popula-

tion. This region has high potential

for agricultural expansion possibili-ties. The agricultural production po-

tential of French speaking sub-

Saharan African countries would be

sufficient to make the region food secure. In addition, the region is lo-

cated in the area were wild biodiver-

sity useful for human nutrition is

still available. Biodiversity within the sub-regions important for food and

nutritional security, as a safeguard

against hunger, a source of nutri-

ents for improved dietary diversity

Photo credit: CIMMYT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/7337632096/


and quality, and strengthening local food systems and environmental

sustainability.

Why chronic malnutrition in a food paradise?

Despite these strengths in food

availability within French speaking countries of the Sub-Saharan re-

gions, statistics clearly indicate a

persistence of nutritional deficien-

cies within CEMAC zone. This may be linked to few reasons within which,

land degradation, particularly acute

in this Sub-Saharan African region

where long-term overuse of soil and low, unpredictable rainfall are the

prime reasons for poor food produc-

tion. This sub zone is essentially a

region of small holders and its envi-ronments are very sensitive. At rela-

tively low population densities tradi-

tional methods start to degrade the

soil and threaten future production. Climatic realities result, except in

some humid zones, frequent crop

failures from drought or dry spells in

the growing season. Poor farmers often take everything they can out of

the soil and are unwilling to invest in

fertilizer because the growing sea-

son is very risky. Most farms in sub-Saharan Africa and specifically

within CEMAC zones intercrop any-

thing with everything. Growing a mix-

ture of crops and varying land man-agement are strategies for adjusting

to different soil and water regimes.

Demand for food will increase by

300% in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the

last decades, the number of under-

nourished people has increased by 51% in this region. Population and

income growth result in a more than

fourfold increase in total food de-

mand by 2050, compared to 2000, which is a much stronger increase

than in other regions of the world.

The resulting increase in food de-

mand will be further enforced by the projected annual economic growth

of more than 5% over the 2010–2050

periods.

Conclusion and way forward

Improvement of the lives of popula-

tions in arid regions requires efforts

to increase food production through

conservation and restoration of the natural environment. The vulnerable

people living in the arid areas in sub-

Saharan Africa represent a relatively

small share of the population. Re-cent promising initiatives to re-

green the Sahel need to be system-

atically integrated in national poli-

cies, in such a way that the entire Sahel region will benefit. In addition,

food programs should incorporate a

strategy for the structural alleviation

of hunger.

References

Ndiaye, M. B. O. (2007). Respect des critères

de convergence vs harmonisation des critères de convergence: étude comparative des performances des indicateurs de conver-

gence économique dans la zone Franc en Afrique (UEMOA et CEMAC). Revue africaine de

l‖intégration, 1(2), 31-69.

Policy, E., & Dependence, E. (2000).Agriculture

and Nutrition. studies (Newbury Park etc.), 30(4), 515-533.

Djoulde. D.R., Justin, E. N. J., & Francois-Xavier, E. (2012) Nutritional properties of “Bush

Meals” from North Cameroon‖s Biodiver-sity.Adv. Appl. Sci. Res., 3(3):1482-1493

AJEBE, L. (2012). Neglected Resource for Hun-ger and Poverty Alleviation-: City Food Produc-

tion.

Photo credit: EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection

Djoulde Darman Roger

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69583224@N05/


Eastern Africa takes on the SUN movement by storm through multisecto-ral engagements

Muniirah Mbabazi Robert Fungo

Malnutrition remains one of the several development challenges of our time, claiming millions of lives of global citi-zens, a majority from the developing world. UNICEF 2013 estimates about 80% of the world‖s 165 million stunted chil-dren live in 14 countries mainly in Asia and Africa. Malnutrition affects both mother and child, reducing the child‖s chances of survival and the mother‖s production capabilities. There is strong evidence on the effects of malnutrition on the development potential of indi-viduals and nations. Despite the magni-tude of the problem, in many countries nutrition remains poorly funded. Cur-rently nutrition is rising high on the global agenda and there is wide spread consensus on improving nutrition as one of the best investments for health and poverty alleviation.

On the global and local scene, there has been stimulated interest and wide spread concern and call for action to end malnutrition especially undernutrition. International effort to tackle undernutri-tion through the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and 1,000 days partner-ship underscore the need for committed collaboration across health and develop-ment sectors; and new and better in-vestment form the public, private and civil society actors in donor countries as well as middle and low income coun-tries. The Sun movement encourages bringing several sectors on board (multisectoral approach) to tackle the malnutrition challenge. This is a proven strategy given the multi faceted nature of malnutrition.

Since its inception in 2010, African states have embraced the SUN move-ment with 28 out of the 41 SUN countries being African states and more will be joining. Eastern African states have wel-comed the movement with many of them getting on board. Fifty percent of the African SUN countries are from the Eastern African region with the latest entry from Kenya. Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and the United Republic of Tan-zania were among the early raiser coun-tries embracing the SUN movement at its inception. The SUN movement is an opportunity for states to tackle the mal-nutrition challenge and it relies on na-tional leaders taking ownership and re-sponsibility for delivering sustainable solutions to improve nutrition in their countries. SUN countries through the world are joined in an effort to success-fully bridge the gap between creating sustainable improvements in global nu-trition and funding. As SUN countries, states are take on a collaborative ap-proach to bring together the people and resources needed to scale up nutrition interventions as well as implement nu-trition –sensitive cross-sector strate-gies. Resources for scaling up nutrition include putting coherent policy and legal framework in place; implementing and aligning programs with common objec-tives/goal and a framework for tracking progress; and mobilising sufficient re-sources (domestic and international) to realise results.

The numbers of malnourished children may not be visibly dropping; the good news is that governments within the region are putting in place suitable legal frameworks to foster this effort in fu-ture. Existing programs and nutrition action plans have been aligned with the SUN framework all geared towards achieving the SUN goal- Ending Under nutrition. The SUN movement takes into account specific country needs and ca-pabilities, priorities and processes and therefore encourages countries to es-tablish own targets for nutrition in the SUN areas. The SUN focus areas include: Universal access to affordable nutritious

food, clean water, sanitation, healthcare and social protection; Increased adop-tion of practices that contribute to good nutrition (such as exclusive breastfeed-ing for the first six months of life); Opti-mal growth of children, demonstrated as reduced levels of stunting (low height for age) and wasting (low weight for height); and Improved micro-nutrient status, especially in women and children, dem-onstrated as reduced levels of micronu-trient deficiency.

In United republic of Tanzania, empha-sis has been on decentralisation and nutrition budget line in the national budget, to ensure that nutrition inter-ventions are closest to the affected com-munities; In Kenya Nutrition legislation has been strengthened and decentrali-sation fostered; In Uganda a comprehen-sive approach has been sought to fos-ter multisectoral linkages within the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan framework which is aligned with nation priorities; In Rwanda and Malawi, nutrition leadership has been fostered.

The current impetus and impact in vari-ous SUN countries will be maintained through maintaining political leadership, expanding existing activities, maintain-ing investment and monitoring achieve-ment on the SUN goal in respective Countries. It is hoped that the SUN move-ment initiative will go a long way in re-ducing or even ending hunger.

Muniirah Mbabazi

Nutritionist Nutritsat Uganda

Robert Fungo

Secretary General at the African Nutri-tion Society


Nutrition challenges in North African countries

Hanane LABRAIMI Ali JAFRI

Over the past decades the North Afri-can region has witnessed significant social, economic, demographic and political changes that have greatly influenced the nature, and magni-tude of health and nutrition prob-lems in the Region as a whole. While the countries of the region still struggle with problems of undernu-trition, the burden of overweight, obesity and other related chronic diseases is increasing due to nutri-tion transition and deep technical and societal changes in societies that generally doesn‖t recognize obesity as public health problem. Societies and health systems con-cerned are not prepared for this de-velopment specially that health and economic consequences are enor-mous on North African regions. The Region also faces other challenges that contribute generally to malnu-trition, including in-country inequali-ties, limited natural resources, re-current drought conditions, high population growth rates, and HIV in some countries. The key nutrition challenges facing the Region are malnutrition, micronutrient defi-ciencies, obesity, NCDs, and food-borne diseases.

This increase is related to the nutri-tion transition. The nutrition transi-tion refers to transition from a mo-notonous diet, but rich in starch and fiber, low in fat and a physically ac-tive lifestyle to a more diverse but rich in sugars diet, saturated animal fats and engineered foods low in

fruits, vegetables and fiber and a sedentary lifestyle fashion. This step t y p i c a l l y d e s c r i b e d a s "Westernization" of behavior is con-ducive to metabolic storage dis-eases - obesity, hypertension, dyslip-idemia and diabetes - heart disease and some cancers.

The progression of these diseases occurs while still persist in these countries the stigma of malnutrition type to deficiency such as anemia and stunting. The coexistence of states of over-and under-nutrition (double load) is a real problem to health care in these countries un-prepared for this change. This re-quires a rethinking of health poli-cies, giving emphasis to prevention in the field of overweight and NCDs. It also requires to adapt nutrition messages when nutritional, appar-ently contradictory situations, can be found within the same company of the same family or even a single individual.

These actions require prior under-standing of the underlying factors. In this context, the Regional Commit-tee for the Eastern Mediterranean

has divided the Eastern Mediterra-nean Region into four groups, that include North African countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria …

Over the past decades the North Afri-can region has witnessed significant social, economic, demographic and political changes that have greatly influenced the nature, and magni-tude of health and nutrition prob-lems in the Region as a whole. While the countries of the region still struggle with problems of undernu-trition, the burden of overweight, obesity and other related chronic diseases is increasing due to nutri-tion transition in societies that gen-erally don‖t recognize obesity as public health problem. The Region also faces other challenges that con-tribute generally to malnutrition, including in-country inequalities, limited natural resources, recurrent drought conditions, high population growth rates, and HIV in some coun-tries. The key nutrition challenges facing the Region are malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity and noncommunicable diseases, and foodborne diseases.

Figure: Prevalence of NCDs in North African countries. (Data: World Health Organization)


The Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean has divided the Eastern Mediterranean Region into four groups, or country clusters that include North African countries, with regard to nutrition stages and dominant nutrition problems, major risk factors and underlying causes, program interventions and gaps in response to these problems, and enabling environment factors for improved action. These four groups can be categorized as: countries in advanced nutrition transition stage; countries in early nutrition transi-tion stage; countries with significant undernutrition; and countries in complex emergency. Some coun-tries appear in more than one group.

Countries in advanced nutrition transition

These countries have high levels of overweight and obesity, and moder-ate levels of undernutrition and mi-cronutrient deficiencies in some population subgroups and that in-cludes Tunisia.

Countries in early nutrition transi-tion

These countries are characterized by moderate levels of overweight and obesity, moderate levels of un-dernutrition in specific population and age groups, and widespread mi-cronutrient deficiencies: Egypt, Libya, and Morocco.

Countries with significant undernu-trition

These countries have particularly high levels of acute and chronic child malnutrition, widespread mi-cronutrient deficiencies, and emerg-ing overweight, obesity and malnu-trition of affluence in certain socio-

economic subgroups: which is the case of Mauritania and population subgroups in Tunisia.

Countries in complex emergency

Sudan is the country in complex emergency situations with severe child and maternal undernutrition and widespread micronutrient defi-ciencies.

However, significant progress has been made over the past three dec-ades in a large number of countries in the Region in improving infant and young child nutrition. UNICEF reported in 2006 that Tunisia and Mauritania were both on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals targeting reduction in the pro-portion of underweight children un-der 5 years of age; 3 countries (Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco) had contained underweight prevalence rates at or below 10%, while Sudan was not on track to meet the MDGs.

The objective in the region is to con-tribute to the development of strate-gies to prevent obesity and NCDs, strategies that should be adapted to the context of nutrition transition, and feasible as acceptable by the multiple stakeholders. It have also as objectives to determine the na-ture and extent of the double burden and estimate the prevalence of bio-logical and behavioral factors risk characterization and psychosocial determinants of behavior and col-lect the views of key stakeholders on options for action.

To achieve these objectives, two complementary approaches are im-plemented simultaneously:

1. Nutritional survey of a representa-tive random sample of the popula-tion

2. Interview study to gather views of representatives of the various cate-gories of key stakeholders (policy makers, sector managers in connec-tion with the supply of the popula-tion, public health and education, associations, media, etc.) to develop actions in obesity prevention.

Nutrition transition is seriously in-stalled in the area. Nutrition educa-tion and awareness to physical activ-ity are needed. On the other side control strategies against micronu-trients deficiency and anemia should identify populations at risk and advocate nutritional communi-cation more aggressively and in the same time, taking into account the problem of overweight and double burden.

Hanane Labraimi Institut de formation aux carrières de santé. Rabat

Morocco

Ali Jafri Université Hassan II Mohammedia Casa-blanca,

Morocco

[email protected]


PARTNERS SECTION

The Agenda of the Federation of African

Nutrition Societies (FANUS)

The Federation of African Nutrition

Societies (FANUS) is a voluntary, not for profit umbrella body for Africa‖s

national nutrition associations/

societies affiliated to the Interna-

tional Union of Nutrition Sciences (IUNS). Membership to the Federa-

tion is open to all not-for-profit na-

tional nutrition associations/

societies in African countries. Only one association/society per country

may join the federation, such an as-

sociation must have a constitution

that is acceptable to the Federation Council. Regional nutrition societies

may also become members of the

federation.

Formed in 2002, following the need

to establish a continental body to

coordinate efforts geared towards promoting the advancement of nu-

trition in addressing Africa‖s unique

challenges; FANUS currently has 22

IUNS adhering member societies. FANUS envisions improving visibility,

relevance and functionality national

nutrition societies. In addition it

seeks to strengthen the functioning and sustainability of national nutri-

tion societies to achieve goals, unite

and influence the nutrition agenda

in Africa.

The federation operates based on seven key areas of focus which in-

clude; Promoting the advancement

of nutrition science in Africa in a

way, that does not detract the auton-omy of any of the member states;

Encouraging and promoting closer

contact and interaction among the

nutritional associations; Encourag-ing and supporting training pro-

grammes to improve the quality of

nutrition research, teaching and ser-

vice delivery; Encouraging and sup-porting conferences and workshops

to allow exchange of information

and sharing of experiences among

nutritionists both within the conti-nent and from other continents; Re-

conceptualizing the role of nutrition

profession in the development

agenda of Africa and in the changing global economy; Encouraging com-

munication and collaboration

among nutrition scientists in Africa;

and Encouraging and promoting dis-semination of information in nutri-

tion sciences through modern infor-

mation technology.

The federation is governed by a

council that constitutes of; the

President, three Vice Presidents from the three regions in Africa

(South, North and West), Secretary

General, Treasurer and six ordinary

council members. The day to day activities are executed by the presi-

dent, vice presidents, secretary gen-

eral and treasurer. The current

FANUS president is Professor Joyce Kinabo of the Sokoine University of

Agriculture in Tanzania.

Website:

http://www.africanutrition.org/

Joyce Kinabo Sokoine University of Agriculture


The East Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) re-

gional food fortification initiative: A model of

regional collaboration in nutrition

Dr. Josephine Kibaru-Mbae Director General of the ECSA

Health Community

Micronutrient malnutrition is a wide-

spread public health problem espe-

cially in the developing regions of

the world. Though it affects all age groups, young children and women

of reproductive age are most at risk.

The most common forms of micro-

nutrient malnutrition are iron, io-dine and vitamin A deficiency; and

lately zinc and folic acid deficien-

cies. Though required in small

amounts for proper body functioning and homeostasis, micronutrient de-

ficiencies can lead to huge public

health costs and loss of human capi-

tal formation. These deficiencies are more significant in designing strate-

gies for the prevention and control

of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, ma-

laria and tuberculosis, diet-related chronic diseases and stunting.

In the East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) region, more than 10

million women and children suffer

from micronutrient deficiencies.

Generally, micronutrient deficien-cies in the ECSA region constitute a

silent and yet devastating burden to

the governments and peoples. This has led to decreased productivity

and economic losses to govern-

ments and citizens of these regions.

Though the region has made great

strides towards the eradication of

iodine deficiency disorders through salt iodization programs, it is still

faced with many micronutrient defi-

ciencies—including vitamin A, iron,

zinc, folate and other B-vitamins. Food fortification continues to at-

tract the attention of development

partners and governments because

it is cost-effective and sustainable in nature. Fortifying centrally proc-

essed foods that form part of the

daily diet of most populations can

easily be introduced at a minimal cost to reduce the high burden of

micronutrient deficiencies in the

region. To this end, the Health Minis-

ters Conference of the ECSA Health Community (ECSA HC) urged member

states to prioritize nutrition inter-

ventions and passed a resolution in

2002 urging member states to initi-ate and implement food fortification

programs as strategic public health

interventions for reduction of micro-

nutrient deficiencies.

In an endeavor to support countries to take forward this Resolution, the

ECSA Secretariat with support from

USAID-East Africa convened the first

regional workshop where countries discussed and identified four staple

foods that are commonly consumed

which could provide effective chan-

nels for essential micronutrients. These include, oil, sugar, maize flour

and wheat flour. In addition, these

countries also committed to con-

tinue supporting the salt iodization agenda by ensuring that more than

90% of households consume ade-

quately iodized salt.

At this initial workshop, countries

clearly saw the value added by hav-

ing a regional approach and ex-pressly stated that “Building regional

collaboration will facilitate the im-

plementation of this vital national

public health intervention”. With this commitment and collaboration, the

ECSA Regional Food Fortification Ini-

tiative/Program was born. Gaps and

challenges in initiating country pro-grams were identified and priori-

tized.

With the support of Partners such as

USAID, UNICEF and Micronutrient Ini-

tiative (MI), a number of significant milestones such as the Standards

for food fortification have been

achieved. Consultatively developed

with country teams, they are based on international guidelines aligned

with the local context, countries

have adopted them to help start up

programs and are progressively re-vised in line with specific country

context. The standards have been

regionally harmonized to facilitate

fair trade in fortified foods among neighboring countries of the East

African Community.

Safe and efficacious food fortifica-

tion relies upon the availability of

food control procedures. ECSA-HC developed several food control

manuals for the fortified foods

whose scope include: procedure for

internal quality control in factories;


inspection and auditing of factory

procedures; and inspection of foods at markets and at the importation

sites. The manuals are in use to

strengthen food control systems in

the countries. They have since been adopted by other regions and trans-

lated into French and Spanish.

To further strengthen the regulatory

and inspection systems, ECSA-HC

established a regional laboratory

proficiency network among food control laboratories across Kenya,

Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zam-

bia in 2005 and which was expanded

to include Ethiopia, Rwanda and Bu-rundi in 2009. This was aimed to en-

sure that countries have laborato-

ries that are supported by a peer-

network to be able to verify the com-pliance of the fortified foods with

standards and regulations. A manual

was also produced and tested for the

analytical assays for key micronutri-ents added to fortified foods.

To date, more than 100 government

officials have been trained on vari-

ous aspects of food fortification. Of-

ficials from the Bureau of Standards were trained on designing safe and

efficacious fortification programs,

while the food control inspectors in

regulatory authorities were trained on how to plan food control exer-

cises and prepare reports that can

be used to inform on performance of

the program. Laboratory analysts and technicians have been trained

on the use of testing methods in the

analysis of micronutrient in foods.

Those involved in planning, monitor-ing and evaluation (Bureau of Statis-

tics) have also been trained in analy-

sis of data from some of the Na-

tional surveys such as the Health Information Exchange Services

(HIES) to estimate the consumption

of fortified foods and the potential

impact of food fortification.

The ECSA-Secretariat has provided a

platform for advocacy and sharing of best practices amongst member

countries. Various fora have been

organized by the Secretariat with

support from Development Partners to provide opportunities for program

managers and contemporaries in

the food fortification program to

share experiences and ideas, les-sons learned; and set program ob-

jectives for the region. This has posi-

tively created peer pressure which

has stirred accelerated action in countries. With this improved capac-

ity, all ECSA countries have initiated

fortification of several foods with 3

of the countries- Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania- legislating mandatory pro-

grams on oil, wheat flour and Maize

flour. This readiness to initiate pro-

grams has attracted the attention of donors with the willingness to part-

ner with the ECSA countries to scale

up fortification programs.

In conclusion, a solid case has been

made for the value of a regional ap-proach to addressing nutritional

problems and other public health

maladies. A regional approach to

planning and implementation of pro-grams reduces duplication of efforts

in development of standardized

tools and guidelines and harnesses

available resources in the region for development of skills of technical

personnel and thereby maximize the

utilization of meager national re-

sources. A regional approach also provides an opportunity for peer re-

view and assessment among mem-

ber countries and institutions within

these countries. This supplements countries effort in national level ad-

vocacy and facilitates uptake and

scaling up of existing programs.

More importantly, it is in perfect har-mony with increased regional trade

and economic integration, a phe-

nomenon that can significantly in-

troduce the required scale of inter-vention for Micronutrient Deficiency

Reduction.

J. Kibaru-Mbae Director General of the ECSA Health Com-munity


The experience of the Uganda Action for

Nutrition (UGAN) in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN)

Movement

Muniirah Mbabazi Kato Peterson Kikomeko

In September 2010, the United

States and the government of Ire-land launched the Scaling Up Nutri-

tion (SUN) Movement, an initiative

focusing on the 1000 days of life with

a theme Change a Life Change a Fu-ture. The SUN movement brings to-

gether a diverse group of stake-

holders interested in improving the

global nutrition landscape. The SUN aims at integrating solutions across

sectors and working together by cre-

ating sustainable change that no

one program, organisation, business or government can achieve alone.

Since its launch, over 40 countries

have joined the SUN movement.

Uganda was among the first coun-

tries to join the SUN Movement and the government has since then

taken steps to scale up nutrition

sensitive actions at national and

local level. Civil society organisa-tions working towards improving

nutrition in Uganda came together

in a coalition to applaud and push

ahead the SUN agenda. The Uganda Civil Society Coalition on Scaling Up

Nutrition (UCCO-SUN) was born in

March 2011. Realising that coordina-

tion of the coalition‖s actions posed a daunting task and therefore re-

quired a dedicated team to con-

structively bring together individual members as well as maintain coali-

tion interests and minimise conflict

of interest; a neutral organisation

among the players was sought. Uganda Action for nutrition (UGAN), a

registered professional body bring-

ing together nutrition professionals

and advocates for appropriate policy and legal framework for nutrition in

Uganda was nominated and voted by

members as the coalition‖s chair to

spear head and oversee UCCO-SUN‖s agenda. To date the coalition has

over 40 members of which; half are

fully registered with the coalition.

UGAN houses the UCCO-SUN secre-tariat, World Vision Uganda is the

focal point organisation that han-

dles the coalition‖s logistics and WHO

is the UN partner organisation through which UCCO-SUN funding is

channelled.

UCCO-SUN was formed to foster civil

societies‖ capacity in nutrition advo-

cacy, monitoring and accountability.

Through policy engagement, the coa-lition brings together civil society

actors in Uganda for joint nutrition

advocacy, information sharing,

awareness and community mobili-sation.

On the international and local

scenes UCCOSUN advocates for im-

proved nutrition indicators and lob-

bies policy makers to create budget lines for nutrition at national and

local level. Recently, UCCOSUN

hosted a weeklong of activities to

mark the global week of action that was coordinated by UGAN and World

Vision Uganda. In the advocacy week

CSOs purposefully targeted and re-

quested world leaders to increase funding for nutrition sensitive initia-

tives and programs. The activities

during this week were meant to re-

mind government and donors to commit more finances to scaling up

nutrition programming. The Civil so-

cieties too, were being called upon

to align their programs with the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP)

in addressing undernutrition.

Furthermore the coalition under the

leadership of UGAN successfully ap-

plied for a grant in 2011 from the

global SUN Multi Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) through the now Civil Society

Network. These funds are aimed at

strengthening civil societies‖ capac-

ity to contribute to the SUN agenda among the CSOs in Uganda.

However, the coalition faces chal-

lenges in enhancing its capability,

low progress towards road map im-

plementation and sustainability of current effort and momentum. The

future for the UCCO-SUN remains a

predictable success under UGAN‖s

leadership.


AGSNet: the past, present and future

Joseph Ashong

Hayford Mawuli Avedzi

“To reduce food and nutrition inse-curity, research-based policies and programs must be developed and implemented effectively. But in Sub-Saharan Africa, weak technical, fi-nancial, and administrative capaci-ties and a serious lack of coopera-tion among relevant sectors have inhibited progress towards food se-curity”[1]

The African Graduate Students‖ Net-

work (AGSNet) was initiated in 2002 by a group of African students study-

ing nutrition at Cornell University,

USA. The goal of the organization is

to provide a forum for effective col-laboration among African graduate

students studying nutrition world-

wide and professionals interested in

minimizing and ultimately eradicat-ing malnutrition on the African con-

tinent.

The AGSNet initiative arose from the

observation that, inadequate nutri-

tion capacity development was a major hindrance to solving the high

prevalence of malnutrition on the

African continent. While countries

across the African continent face very similar nutrition challenges,

there has not been much inter- and

to some extent, intra-country col-

laboration, knowledge dissemina-

tion, transfer of expertise and adop-tion of good practices. Also, there is

lack of adequate political will in sup-

port of a nutrition agenda (which is

often non-existent) in many African countries. Consequently, attempts

at eliminating malnutrition prob-

lems on the continent have yielded

minimal impact. These challenges have contributed in no small way to

the unlikeliness of many countries

in Africa to meet the Millennium De-

velopment Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

In order to address these challenges,

the AGSNet has focused strategically on nutrition capacity development

by creating a platform for network-

ing, sharing opportunities and build-

ing relationship among students and young African professionals—the

future leaders of Africa. Through

this, the AGSNet aims at building

core nutrition competencies as well as appropriate attitudes and values

such as trust among its members,

organizational skills, and above all, a

unified front in the ―fight‖ against malnutrition in Africa.

Membership and operations

The African Nutrition Graduate Stu-

dents Network (AGSNet) currently has over 400 African graduate stu-

dents from over 40 countries study-

ing nutrition in academic institu-

tions in Africa, Europe, North Amer-ica and Asia. The network is run by a

Steering Committee, which com-

prises a Coordinating Committee

headed by a Coordinator currently based in Cornell University in the

USA. Regional representatives in

North, South, West and East Africa,

Europe and North America support the Coordinating Committee. There

are also country representatives,

who are encouraged to organize pro-

grams at the country level and pro-mote activities for the network. The

main mode of communication is via

email. The network has a website

which is currently undergoing re-structuring and a Facebook account.

AGSNet meets every two years to

take stock of its activities, elect new

officer bearers, and to set goals and programs for i ts ―calendar

year‖ (which spans 2 years). AGSNet

members are always encouraged

and supported by the network to at-tend conferences, training work-

shops and seminars to enhance

their technical capacities, gain expo-

sure and learn about the latest de-velopments in the field of nutrition

while networking with experts in the

field and building social capital.

As the saying goes, “there is strength

in unity”. AGSNet is constantlyon the

lookout for opportunities to collabo-rate with strategic and similar goal-

oriented organizations. For instance,

members of the network are encour-

aged to attend the annual African Nutrition Leadership Program (ANLP)

in South Africa to develop core lead-

ership skills. AGSNet participates

fully in the activities of the Federa-tion of African Nutrition Societies

(FANUS) and was actively involved in

the most recent meeting in Abuja,

Nigeria. The network currently holds it biennial congress as part of the

African Nutritional Epidemiology

Conference (ANEC) organized by the

African Nutrition Society (ANS). The


most recent was held in Bloemfon-

tein, South Africa in 2012.

Challenges

Majority of AGSNet members are

graduate students who move on af-

ter their graduate training. Keeping

up the interest and enthusiasm of members after their training as well

as encouraging new students/

members to join has always been a

challenge. Financing an organization such as the AGSNet, which has a

large student membership, has been

another challenge. In addition, the

poor internet communication ser-vices in many African countries af-

fects the timely response to mail as

well as limiting members‖ access to

resources and opportunities that are made available to them. These chal-

lenges notwithstanding, the network

keeps pushing and working to meet

its primary objectives. The network has been able to hold successful

general biennial meetings since its

inauguration in 2005 in Durban,

South Africa. The AGSNet has also achieved its core objective to a large

extent. Dr. Folake Samuel of the Uni-

versity of Ibadan, Nigeria sums it all

with this statement “I know what the AGSNet has done for me” during one

of the network‖s deliberations at the

FANUS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria in

2011.

Future plans

There are plans and on-going discus-

sions and efforts to change the face

of the network and the AGSNet lead-ership is open to innovative ideas

from members and non-members

on ways to keep members active and

involved in the activities of the net-work. The network will continue to

facilitate participation of its mem-

bers in international meetings. The

next general meeting of the network is scheduled to coincide with the VI

ANEC conference in 2014 in Accra,

Ghana. At this meeting, the network

will be focusing on re-evaluating the original intentions of the founders

and coming up with practical ways

by which these intentions could be

realized in advancing the AGSNet to the next level. The network‖s consti-

tution will also be revised with re-

gards to the leadership structure

and hosting, the Coordinating Com-mittee and the Coordinator. [NM1] It

is our earnest hope that these prag-

matic ideas will be adopted and im-

plemented to move the network a step further. Discussions will also be

finalized in Accra on the exact rela-

tionship and/or role of AGSNet within

the African Nutrition Society. These and other key issues will be dis-

cussed in preparation for the meet-

ing and all members are encouraged

to actively contribute to the dis-course.

Final words

While the AGSNet exists to provide a

forum for effective collaboration

among African graduate students studying nutrition and nutrition pro-

fessionals worldwide, it cannot work

in isolation. Our doors are therefore

open to all those who share in our vision and have innovative and prag-

matic ideas for moving nutrition in

Africa and the network forward.

Acknowledgements

Our special appreciation goes to the

United Nations University, Cornell

University (College of Human Ecol-

ogy) which currently hosts the net-work‖s website, Nestle Nutrition

Foundation, Sight and Life, Clive West

Micronutrient Foundation, African

Nutrition Society (ANS) for their im-mense support. Professors Patrick

Stover, the late Michael Latham and

Tola Atinmo deserve special ac-

knowledgement for their support and encouragement. The tireless

efforts of members, both present

and past, have kept the network

alive and growing from strength to strength. Members in Nigeria and

the North American chapter, espe-

cially Canada, deserve applause for

their dedication to the activities of the network.

[1] Babu, S.C., et al., Strengthening Africa's capacity to design and implement strategies for food and nutrition security, 2004, Interna-

tional Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Joseph Ashong AGSNet Coordinator Cornell University

[email protected]

H. Mawuli Avedzi University of Alberta

[email protected]


The Algerian Society of Nu-trition : A Run-up for Food

and Nutrition in Algeria !

Malika BOUCHENAK-KHELLADI

President of the Algerian Society of Nutrition

The Algerian Society of Nutrition

(SAN) is a scientific association with a social character, that has been

created in 2011. It is domiciled at

Oran University and exercises its

activities on the whole national terri-tory. Most of its members, about

160, are teachers, researchers,

medical doctors, private practitio-

ners, state employees working in the field of food-processing industry,

and PhD students.

The SAN has several missions:

- To promote nutrition in all its appli-

cable fields (health, agronomy, food-

processing industry, biotechnology,

environment).

- To create and develop links be-tween basic and applied research,

as well as with practical sectors, ad-

ministrative and institutional appli-

cation and the population.

- To organize or support initiatives of

training, information and populari-zation in nutrition fields, by taking

into account the priorities of public

health.

- To organize one or several scien-

tific meetings a year, alone or with the partnership of other societies

and organisms.

- To generate works of collective ex-

pertise.

- To encourage and broadcast infor-

mation and the scientific findings, in

particular by creating a scientific journal.

- To assure that nutrition is repre-

sented with national and interna-

tional authorities.

- To work with all institutions and

ministerial departments interested

in its objectives.

- To organize, at best, actions or ac-tivities in nutrition.

The SAN organized its 1st Interna-

tional Congress in 2012 (5th and 6th

December), in Oran, Algeria. This

conference was an opportunity of exchange and discussions around

many aspects of food, nutrition &

health, metabolic physiopathology,

phytotherapy & health, and finally the biotechnologies and nutrition.

The SAN created its biannual journal entitled ―Nutrition & Santé‖ ISSN 2253

-0983, with an international scien-

tific committee. This journal aspires

to publish any works in English and French related to the fields of nutri-

tion, food sciences, biotechnologies,

m e t a b o l i c p h y s i o p a t h o l o g y

(diabetes, obesity, metabolic syn-drome, hypertension), cardiovascu-

lar physiopathology, pharmacologi-

cal and nutritional therapeutic ap-

proaches, as well as phytotherapeu-

tic approaches. In December 2012, in

Vol. 01, N° 00, were published the proceedings of the 1st International

Congress of the SAN. In 2013, in Vol.

02, N°01 and N° 02, selected original

papers presented during the same congress will be published.

Besides, the SAN is involved in a Pro-gram project entitled «HealthyKids»

in Algeria, in partnership with the

Ministry of Health (MSPRH) and

Nestlé Algérie. This project‖s objec-tives are to prevent nutritional defi-

ciencies and overweight-obesity in

the schoolchildren between 7 and 11

years old, by promoting the better food practices and physical activity.

Indeed, to act on prevention re-

quires the implication and collabo-

ration of several stakeholders, in-cluding scientists, academics, NGOs,

consumers, health policy makers,

the food-processing industry, and

national and international authori-ties. Nutritional education is thus a

powerful tool to make sure that the

children understand the importance

of the nutrition and the physical ac-tivity for their health throughout

their life.

M. Bouchenak-Khelladi Oran University Director of the Clinical and Metabolic Nutrition Laboratory

[email protected]

Www.san-dz.org

mailto:mailto:[email protected]


The African Nutrition Society Celebrates Nevin S. Scrimshaw

The African Nutrition Society (ANS) has learnt with profound sadness the passing of Professor Nevin Scrimshaw, a leading light and force major for nutrition over the last eight decades or more. Nevin‖s life and work speaks for itself and as has been captured variously in the media and the nutrition community, this great pioneer has been a teacher, mentor, researcher, and influenced not only many a nutritional scientist and leader today, but global nutri-tion policy. As a young organisation with aspirations that matched his own vision and ambitions for nutrition train-ing and capacity building in Africa, we were delighted to be asked to host a celebration of Professor Scrimshaw‖s 90th birthday at our 3rd Africa Nutritional Epidemiology Conference (ANEC III) in Cairo, Egypt in 2008. In paying tribute to him, we initiated the “Nevin Scrimshaw Award” for excellence in international nutrition of which he was the first re-cipient. Professor Scrimshaw is the epitome of a great teacher and trainer of the ―can do‖ variety who through great sacrifices, sought to follow the strength of his convictions and toiled to promote the global nutrition agenda and in particular, nutrition and health in developing countries. It is therefore with the greatest honour that ANS joins the global nutrition fraternity to celebrate the life and work of Professor Nevin S Scrimshaw. As a scientific learned soci-ety for nutrition, we are proud to continue to be associated with the Nevin S Scrimshaw Internaitional Nutrition Foundation, and will continue to honour him through the “Nevin S Scrimshaw Award” and the Nevin S Scrimshaw

Medal which is presented biennially to outstanding scientists in international nutrition.

OBITUARY


Announcements

15-20 September 2013

IUNS 20th International Congress of Nutrition

Malaga, Spain

Website: http://icn2013.com/

30 Jan-1 Feb 2014

International Conference on Nutrition & Growth

Barcelona, Spain

Website: http://ng.kenes.com/

10-19 March 2014

12th African Nutrition Leadership Programme (ANLP 2014)

South Africa

Website: africanutritionleadership.org

21-25 July 2014

6th African Nutritional Epidemiology Conference (ANEC 6)

Accra, Ghana

Theme: Food and Nutrition security in Africa: New challenges for sustain-ability

19-21 November 2014

Second International Con-ference on Nutrition (ICN2)

Rome, Italy

More info: http://www.fao.org/food/nutritional-policies-strategies/icn2/en/

http://icn2013.com/

http://ng.kenes.com/

http://africanutritionleadership.org

http://www.fao.org/food/nutritional-policies-strategies/icn2/en/

http://www.fao.org/food/nutritional-policies-strategies/icn2/en/


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