Optimism for the UN Proclamation of the Decade of Action on Nutrition: An African Perspective

Abstract

On Friday, April 1, 2016, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly proclaimed 2016 to 2025 as a decade of action on nutrition.1 Writing as an African living and working in sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 11% of gross domestic product (GDP) is lost to malnutrition2 and where malnutrition is declining rather too slowly for anyone’s liking, this proclamation captured my attention. Another reason this is significant for me and, I reckon, for many others is that this year also marks the beginning of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),3 which articulate achieving zero hunger and the even more aspirational dream of ending all forms of malnutrition by the year 2030. Later this year in August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Nutrition for Growth Summit will also bring more attention to efforts to eliminate malnutrition around the world. Considering these and other events con aggregating around such a short duration, it would appear to an outside observer that the world is set for a momentous delivery of something really big for nutrition.