Background

Food systems globally are failing to meet the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations, leading to widespread malnutrition and health disparities. Young children aged 6-23 months in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are especially at risk. Millions of young children are not receiving nutritious, diverse diets due to the lack of locally produced, affordable, accessible, and aspirational nutrient-dense complementary foods (CF). Nearly 181 million children live in severe child food poverty, surviving on just one or two food groups a day or less, with around 64 million in Africa, heightening the risk of micronutrient deficiencies.

This deprivation during early childhood has long-lasting adverse impacts on child survival, physical growth, and cognitive development, perpetuating cycles of poverty and deprivation.

Objectives of the Meeting

This meeting will bring together stakeholders from across the food system to collaboratively:

• Identify context-specific, evidence-based investment priorities and strategies for local commercial production of (fortified) foods for complementary feeding.
• Foster partnerships between national and regional stakeholders by exchanging experiences, best practices, and lessons learned to promote continuous improvements in access to safe and nutritious local solutions.
• Inform regional and country commitments for the Nutrition for Growth summit (N4G), hosted by the French Government in March 2025 in Paris, with the intent of creating an enabling policy environment, establishing programs and partnerships, discussing multi-sectoral linkages, and making investments to stimulate demand and accelerate the availability of locally produced nutritious and safe complementary foods (CF).

Expected Outcomes

This regional meeting will lay the groundwork for actionable strategies that can enhance food availability, affordability, and accessibility for vulnerable children. The discussions and recommendations of the meeting will inform and encourage regional and country commitments at the N4G Summit in Paris, in March 2025. Specifically, the meeting will be instrumental in:

1. Establishing agreed-upon investment priorities for enhancing local production of safe and nutritious complementary foods (CF) to guide governments, donors, and the private sector.
2. Delivering actionable policy recommendations for creating an enabling environment to support local CF production, with a focus on improving policy and regulatory frameworks, reducing supply chain barriers, and increasing access to finance.
3. Strengthening public-private partnerships to support the development and distribution of locally produced nutritious CF.

Additional Resources

Event Brochure