Conserving indigenous food resources can reduce stunting

-development brought on by a malnourished mother. The definition of stunting according to the World Health OrganiSation (WHO) is for the  height for age  value to be less than two standard deviations of the WHO child growth standards median.  

As of 2012 an estimated 162 million children under 5 years of age, or 25 per cent, were stunted. More than 90 per cent of the world's stunted children live in Africa and Asia, where respectively 36 per cent and 56 per cent of children are affected.  Once established, stunting and its effects typically become permanent. Stunted children may never regain the height lost as a result of stunting, and most children will never gain the corresponding body weight. Living in an environment where many people defecate in the open due to lack of sanitation, is an important cause of stunted growth in children, for example in India.  

Former Prime Minister  Mizengo Pinda has said that the only way to address the serious problem of malnutrition which threatens the well-being of the country at the moment is to encourage the cultivation of nutritious crops to reduce stunting from 32 to 24 per cent.

Pinda made the call this week   when he speaking at the pan-African summit aimed at exploring the role of traditional vegetables in strengthening and diversifying food systems, reducing poverty, energising the industry, and improving health and income for all citizens.

The three-day forum brought on board a number of experts on the sector from across the continent and the world at large.

He said that in order to reduce thinning to less than five per cent, the rate set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is a need to increase production of horticultural products from 7,230,217 tonnes to 14,600,000 tonnes by 2025.

"If we’re to achieve these goals, we need to identify a number of factors, including capacity building of local government and private institutions to reduce the cost of certification of exports, especially vegetables, whose main investors are women and youth," the ex-premier said.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), a total of 821 million people suffer from malnutrition-related eating disorders.

Pinda who is also a chairman of the Agri Thamani Foundation, said in Tanzania, malnutrition is a serious problem, whereby the 2018 nutrition status data, shows that more children are the highly affected group.

Statistics show that children aged 0 to 5, three million children stunted and 1.3 million children are underweight, while at the same age group, five million are anemic. Three million children of the same age are Vitamin A deficiency—a leading cause of preventable blindness in children and increase the risk of disease and death from severe infections such as diarrhoeal disease and measles.

It also estimated that 32 per cent of women aged between 14 and 49 are overweight. Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Director for the World Vegetable Center operations Dr Gabriel Rugalema said the summit would ensure they formulate a strategy that will encourage the growth of the vegetables as well as how to care for them.

An economist from the East African Business Council (EABC), Adrian Njau urged the stakeholders to focus on the production of their traditional vegetables, rather than relying on imported produce and researching more local vegetables.