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ABUJA DECLARATION

Senior African Policy Makers Reaffirm the Critical Role of Agriculture and Food Policies for Nutrition Outcomes in Africa

At a Senior Policy Seminar held in Abuja, Nigeria on 10 March 2020, and hosted by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) in partnership the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) focusing on the theme, “Agriculture and Food Policies for Improved Nutrition Outcomes in Africa,” senior policy makers from around the continent adopted a declaration as an affirmation of their strong commitment to supporting agricultural and food systems for enhanced human capital development.

We African Senior Policy Makers assembled at the AERC Senior Policy Seminar,

Affirming that food and nutrition security is part of a larger nexus of development challenges and opportunities,

Recognizing that making agriculture more nutrition-sensitive ought to be promoted as a sustainable solution to the triple burden of malnutrition (undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiency) facing African countries,

Further recognizing the implications of ongoing demographic, epidemiologic and nutrition transitions as well as their implications and consequences for Africa’s malnutrition burden on child mortality, education outcomes, healthcare system and labour productivity,

Commending governments across Africa for realizing the importance of increasing shares of national budgets to agriculture, health and nutrition,

Noting that appropriate incentives and nutrition education are critical for households to consume appropriate diets and adopt productivity as well as income-enhancing technologies and practices that drive agricultural development and broader economic and social transformation,

Further noting that several structural conditions generate obstacles to such increased consumption and adoption, most notably inadequate early-life nutrition, food prices, affordability and accessibility of nutritious foods through the life cycle, low income and education levels, including critical information gaps,

Mindful that the nutritional needs of women and children require special attention,

Also mindful of the need to address expanded access to land through secure tenure,credit, markets, and financial services,

Appreciating the urgent need for policy reforms and institutional innovation to overcome these obstacles, with an emphasis on stronger implementation,

Acknowledging the importance of tackling problems related to the triple burden of malnutrition through an explicitly integrated approach focusing on agriculture, rural development and food security,

1. Affirm that preventing malnutrition and improving nutrition requires a multi- sectoral and integrated approach to implementing nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food security policies and strategies, engaging multi- stakeholders and promoting their concerted actions, and responding effectively to the challenges, and that Central Banks can play a critical role in furthering inclusion of households and small-scale enterprises in financial markets;
2. Commend the partnership between African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and partner development agencies and institutions to strengthen the evidence base for policy and programme design and implementation for tackling malnutrition, urging them to continue to work to develop a practical, but cutting-edge Research and Development agenda to address policy and programming challenges on accelerating better nutrition outcomes;
3. Take note of the promise of improving early life nutrition, diet quality, food environments as well as increasing income and education as approaches towards encouraging African households to enhance their nutrition status and well-being;
4. Commit to create enabling environments for adoption of yield-enhancing technologies, seize market opportunities, raise incomes and enhance nutritional status and well-being, and
5. Further commit to undertake consultations within our own Governments, both national and sub-national, to explore scope for employing demand-led approaches within public food procurement programmes, thereby promoting healthy diets, nutritional outcomes and human capital development for inclusive and sustainable growth and broader transformation.