Posted on September, 5, 2018 at 11:06 am
DEUS NGOWI in Arusha
THE Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (Gain) is organising the first ever investment in nutrition conference in Nairobi to attract private sector investments.
Working with several partners, Gain wants to make healthier food choices more affordable, available, and more desirable, with Gain Media Director Ishara Callan, saying the conference will be taking place on World Food Day on October 16-17.
In Gain’s media statement, Ms Callan says the forum is a platform for bold, fresh, holistic ideas to develop the food value chain and the role that the private sector can play in enhancing nutrition in Africa.
With Gain, other hosts are Royal DSM, Sun Business Network and African Business Magazine. “The forum will look holistically at the food value chain and the role the private sector can play in enhancing nutrition in Africa.
This initiative is made possible through the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands. The forum will have a strong representation from government, non-governmental organisations and the private sector,” she said.
The director said the conference would bring together business leaders and key players from agriculture, development and academic communities and investors.
The forum will allow investors to connect with investment opportunities in high impact nutrition businesses and exchange knowledge, share experience, explore collaboration and spark off new ideas.
“A dedicated marketplace and pitch competitions will connect investors with companies and entrepreneurs that play a crucial role in nutrition and food security for low income communities.
The forum will highlight many value chain points offering opportunities for profitable investment that can also help improve nutrition across the African continent,” she noted.
Ms Callan added that a carefully devised agenda featuring a cross-section of expert speakers aimed at offering participants an in-depth insight into nutrition investments together with the understanding of future needs, their impacts and ways to mobilise funds, as nutritious diets remained expensive, and out of reach for many people in the region.
A significant proportion of household expenditure is on food and the proportion is even higher in the poorest of households.
Among key discussion points are based on what will the African food industry look like in 2030, how the Africa food industry could be financed and fuelling the business of nutrition: what it will take to unlock investment opportunities in nutritious food value chains.
The director noted that Tanzania was a key country that Gain and the forum would be focusing on and informationthat despite the good progress made by the country in addressing all forms of malnutrition among children over the last decade, the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in the country was still categorised as ‘very high’.
“With stunting at 34 per cent, the country with a population of 57.9 million people, also suffers from high rates of micronutrient deficiencies with one-third of children deficient in iron and vitamin A2.
The health consequences of lack of essential micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron, zinc, folic acid and iodine, can range from serious physical disabilities to life-threatening disorders,” she unveiled.
Moreover, she said a double burden of malnutrition was emerging. “Now, under nutrition coexists a rapidly increasing problem of diet-related non-communicable diseases, especially overweight, obesity, hypertension and type-2 diabetes.
Source: Daily News