Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, OCTOBER 18-24, 2019
By Esther Ngumbi and
Ifeanyi Nsofor
ILLINOIS, United States /
ABUJA, Oct 16, 2019 (IPS) —
United Nations World Food
Day is celebrated around the
world on Oct. 16 under the
theme: “Our Actions ARE
Our Future. Healthy Diets
for a Zero Hunger World.”
This theme is timely, especially,
because across Africa
and around the world, there
has been a gradual rise in
malnutrition and diet-related
non communicable diseases,
as highlighted in The
Lancet study and a United
Nations Report published
earlier this year.
While 45 percent of
deaths in children are from
nutrition-related causes,
mainly malnutrition, dietrelated
non communicable
diseases like obesity is a
fast-growing problem across
the world causing low- and
middle-income countries to
face a double burden of malnutrition.
Globally, non-communicable
diseases kill the most
people every year. Based on
2016 data, out of 56.9 million
deaths, 40.5 million
were due to non-communicable
diseases (30.5 million
were in developing countries).
Diabetes, one of the
complications of obesity led
to 1.6 million deaths.
Obesity is ubiquitous –
every country is dealing with
this pandemic in one form
or another. Rates of obesity
among females aged 5-19
years is 59%, 42% 36%, 8%
in U.S., South Africa, Brazil
and India respectively.
Research in Ghana shows
that children from poorer
backgrounds are more vulnerable
to food insecurity
and narrow dietary diversity.
In contrast, consumption
of processed foods rich
in sugar but poor in nutrients
is common among
all socioeconomic classes.
Showing that obesity does
not respect boundaries. In
Scotland, about 30 percent
of adults and 13 percent of
children are obese – this
is attributable to foods and
drinks high in fat, sugar
and salt.
It is said that; the youths
are the future. However, if
the present trends of dietrelated
non communicable
diseases like obesity among
youths fueled by unhealthy
foods continue, the future
would be unhealthy. This
is how to make the future
healthy.
First, focus on consumption
of plant-based nutritious
meals among women
of child-bearing age. One
way to achieve this is by
civil society organisations
working with government
to identify locally available
nutritious meals and training
families on how best to
prepare these meals.
Data shows that most
important time for using
nutrition to improve cognition
and physical development
of a child is the first
1000 days of life (from when
the woman becomes pregnant,
through-out pregnancy,
birth and until the baby
is 2 years old).
In addition to the woman
eating nutritious meals,
there are several nutritional
interventions to achieving
these, including – exclusive
breastfeeding within
one hour after birth until
the baby is 6 months old;
introduction of nutritious
complementary meals at 6
months and continuing of
breastfeeding until the baby
is 2 years old.
The good news is that,
the African continent is
endowed with indigenous
vegetable plant varieties such
as amaranth greens, African
nightshade, Ethiopian
mustard and fluted pumpkins
that are affordable, and
highly nutritious and dense
in essential micronutrients
that are lacking in many of
the foods African.
In addition, many of
these vegetable plants are
highly adapted to the African
climate and can endure
drought and pests. Further,
women that grow these
crops for consumption can
By Lindsay Falvey
Professor Lindsay Falvey,
who will be presented with the
2019 Crawford Fund medal on
World Food Day for remaining
practically and passionately
committed, for over four decades,
to the international contributions
agricultural science
makes to food security.
MELBOURNE, Oct 15, 2019
(IPS) — Success has many parents
– so the saying goes. In
the case of the massive successes
of international agricultural
research, no one person
can claim parentage. There are
heroes along the way such as
Norman Borlaug and his early
cereal breeding, and the team
that eliminated the cattle disease
Rinderpest from the world
— smallpox is the only other disease
that has been totally eradicated.
Another is the founder
of The Crawford Fund, Derek
Tribe, who was also instrumental
in the creation of what is
now the International Livestock
Research Institute (ILRI), which
I chair. However, it would be
more correct to highlight the
thousands of scientists who
have contributed to the world’s
greatest feat of feeding an extra
three billion people when pundits
said it was impossible.
More than 30 percent of the
world was hungry in the 1960s;
today it’s around 15 percent yet
population has doubled. Australia
has been a consistent funder
and collaborator in this major
success, much of which was
achieved through international
agricultural research centres,
particularly those that form
CGIAR, a global research-fordevelopment
partnership working
for a food-secure future.
Australians have been highly
represented in these and other
elite research centres since their
beginnings in the 1960s.
Now, 50 years on, a new generation
of agricultural scientists,
thought leaders and research
managers is needed to carry on
this scientific and humanitarian
work in the face of such complex
and ‘wickedly’ inter-related
problems as world poverty and
malnutrition, global warming,
and mass migration.
My own association with
this rewarding international
field has spanned many different
aspects from research to
research governance to development.
It has not been as scientifically
profound as many of
my colleagues — but it has been
fulfilling, worthwhile and fun. I
would like to share part of that
story to encourage others who
are entering the sector.
Fifty years ago I started in
the tropics, which led into 45
years’ association with international
agricultural research
and development. It is easy to
imagine that my ‘career’ was
somehow planned, but I have
not had a career in that sense at
all. A colleague once described
it more as opportunistic, which
is largely correct — it has been
based on taking opportunities
where I thought I could make
a difference as they arose, and
accepting the risks that came
with them.
The first ingredient was a
sound agricultural science education,
which fortunately Aus-
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Let plants be thy medicine
– You are what you eat
Global challenges for
the ‘NextGen’
Busani Bafana/IPS
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