According to the Cost of Hunger in Africa (2017), Mozambique loses approximately 10.9% of its annual GDP (1.6 billion Dollars) due to chronic malnutrition. It is therefore urgent that all sectors converge and identify solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of malnutrition.
This Situation Report—the fifth in a series—finds that COVID-19-related control measures continue to have an impact on food systems in 10 countries where GAIN works: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a multiplier of vulnerability, compounding threats to food security and nutrition (FSN), while exposing weaknesses in food systems. In response, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) developed the Keeping Food Markets Working (KFMW) programme to provide targeted support to help sustain core food systems, workers, and markets during the COVID-19 emergency.
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, food fortification is a critically important tool for addressing and preventing malnutrition. 6-months into the pandemic, some of the world’s leading development organisations, including UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations in the fortification space, explain how the pandemic is impacting national food fortification programs and recommend actions that should be taken to protect fortification programs at this critical time.
Although eggs are highly nutritious, they remain scarce and relatively expensive in many low-income settings, including across many of the countries where GAIN operates. Moreover, they are only rarely consumed by children in many regions. Globally, the average egg supply is around 3.5 eggs per person per week.
In low-income countries, poor dietary diversity is driven in large part by the low availability and affordability of nutritious foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and other animal sourced foods. In a recent assessment, GAIN determined that small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or small and mighty enterprises as GAIN likes to call them, produce, process or sell up to 70% of nutritious food sold in low-income markets in Africa.
These manuals have been prepared for use by persons and organisations wishing to manufacture and supply complementary foods in different countries. The manuals have been specifically prepared for use in the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda and contain generic information that will be applicable irrespective of the country concerned but also contain specific information relating to the four aforementioned countries.
These document series summarise some rapid assessments undertaken by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to understand early impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on food systems in a set of low- and middle-income countries where GAIN works (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria).
These document series summarise some rapid assessments undertaken by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to understand early impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on food systems in a set of low- and middle-income countries where GAIN works (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria).
These document series summarise some rapid assessments undertaken by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to understand early impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on food systems in a set of low- and middle-income countries where GAIN works (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria).