East African Community and IGAD partner to launch Nutrition Knowledge Hubs

TANZANIA – Member States of the East African Community (EAC) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have launched knowledge hubs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to enhance food and nutrition security while addressing challenges in the sector.

The two partners in collaboration with NEPAD Agency organised a three-day regional knowledge management capacity training on Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) attended by representatives from Ministries of Agriculture and Health.

According to IPP media, the training aims at promoting inter-country and inter-regional learning and knowledge exchange on food and nutrition security policies and practices.

Issues that the initiative seeks to address include hunger and malnutrition- stunting, wasting, under-weight, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight or obesity.

It is reported that these are major challenges facing most African countries, households or individuals among the population.

While stunting- having a low height for a given age – affects more than 36.7% of children in the EAC region, over 70 million people are facing chronic food insecurity in the IGAD region.

“The food systems and nutrition challenges faced by countries are complex, for which no one solution can suffice.

Multi-pronged approaches coupled with strong and sustained political leadership is required.

It is for this reason that the new vision of Africa’s Agenda 2063 – calls for indigenous methods of programming and delivery,” said one of the representatives.

To promote food security and reduce levels of malnutrition on the continent, the training highlighted the need for developing interventions such as knowledge exchange, capacity building, and advocacy for better policies and practices.

The training saw the development of various knowledge products, including regional and country-level information briefs, infographics and good practices – all focused on advancing Food and Nutrition Security within the EAC and IGAD regions.

It was the second regional-level workshop after the Southern African Development Community (SADC) training that upskilled a total number to 26 Member States SADC, EAC and IGAD.