Nutrition

Situated in the Lake Chad basin, the Logone and Chari Division is repeatedly exposed to weather related shocks, most recently floods in 2022 and drought in 2019. The population suffers from chronic food insecurity and structural poverty, with the food and nutrition situation expected to deteriorate further in 2023 because most farms were destroyed by the waters.

Kenya is experiencing triple burden of malnutrition characterized by undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and diet-related non-communicable diseases. These are compounded by high poverty, drought and frequent famine especially in pastoral communities. Mushrooms and green leafy vegetables are nutrient-rich easy-to-grow and rich in proteins, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

Our innovation will address the issue of under five child stunting in Rwanda in general but particularly among indigenous people. Under five child stunting in Rwanda is 33%, one of the highest worldwide. Health professionals confirms 100% that the underlying causes is poor nutrition among pregnant and lactating women. Consequently, it is more higher among poor families.

Undernutrition and household food insecurity remain a challenge in Rwanda. Despite the recent nationally improved living conditions, over 18% population experiences chronic food insecurity. Most food-insecure households have limited or no access to sufficient, nutritious food needed to live a healthy life leading to various types of malnutrition and increased risk of illnesses. Currently, 33.1% of children under 5 years are stunted, with 6.7% suffering from acute malnutrition.

Food insecurity and malnutrition especially, protein-energy, micronutrient, vitamin A, iron, iodine, folate, vitamin B12 and zinc deficiencies are prevalent in rural communities in Kenya. Severely affected are pregnant women and children under the age of 5 years. Though unstainable, provision of nutrient supplements is embraced in Kenya. In 2020, 4.5 million children aged 6 to 59 months received doses of vitamin A supplement, and over 2.9 million pregnant women were given iron and folic acid doses.

La famine et la malnutrition sont courantes au Burkina Faso. Elles sont la conséquence des mauvais rendements des agriculteurs, pour cause des sécheresses et des changements climatiques. Elles ont pris de l'ampleur ces dernières années, surtout dans les environnants des grandes villes comme Ouagadougou où les déplacés internes ont fait accroitre de façon exponentielle le nombre de la population.

The burden of malnutrition is increasing in most developing countries (Pinstrup‐Andersen, 2007). The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) 2014 report shows that 24.7% of children in Siaya 0-5 years are stunted, 7.8% are underweight and 4.7% wasted. In the sub-Saharan Africa, a larger part of the population in the lower socio-economic group relies on monotonous cereal-based diets, as their major source of nutrition. Cereal-based diets contain adequate amounts of micronutrients but their bioavailability is very low.

Environ 3,14 milliards de personnes souffrent de malnutrition dans le monde. Malgré son développement économique ces dernières décennies, le Cameroun a fait peu de progrès dans la réduction de la malnutrition. Le triple fardeau de la malnutrition au Cameroun est souligné par la persistance de taux élevés de retard de croissance et d'émaciation (29%), de carences multiples en micronutriments (57%), et d'un fardeau croissant de surpoids dans les zones urbaines (11 %).

We have developed technology that adds bioavailable iron to tea. We have shown the process to be effective in-vitro, and in-vivo. We will test the positive health effect of iron fortified tea in Tanzania in cooperation with Haydom Hospital and in India the St. John’s Research Institute. We will complete adjustments to the color and taste of fortified tea, and initiate the scale-up in cooperation with tea formulators and manufacturers in India and Canada.

Mary Glover-Amengor of the Food Research Institute in Ghana will investigate whether drinking soymilk-burkina, a Ghanaian indigenous fermented milk and millet beverage (smoothie), improves the nutritional status and gut health of women of reproductive age living in the Volta and Oti regions of Ghana. They will produce the soymilk-burkina and test it for bacterial and fungal content and consumer acceptability.