She made this statement yesterday during the inaugural coordinating committee meeting for the Fill in the Nutrient Gap (FNG) Analysis aimed at providing situational analysis to identify the main obstacles households and individuals face in accessing nutritious food.
Mrs Sende stated that the Gambia is still facing high food insecurity and malnutrition driven by multiple and diverse factors such as food prices due to global supply chain disruptions, cereal production deficits in some regions, increases in the price of utilities, including water and electricity, and climate disasters.
“The increase in prices poses challenges to households with low income to access sufficient and nutritious food,” she stated. “Half of the households (53%) allocate more than their budget to food expenses.”
The WFP representative further highlighted critical levels of acute malnutrition among children aged 6-59 months old, with a prevalence of 8.5% of 18.3% at the national level.
“Only 16.5% of 6-23-month-old children meet the minimum acceptable diet whereas 31.8% meet the minimum dietary diversity and only 40.8 meet the minimum meal frequently,” she stated, adding that the consumption patterns related to the ten food groups among women of reproductive age and children indicate some ‘missing food groups’, hence possibly causing the low degree of dietary diversity, across all regions.
In the same vein, Malang N. Fofana, acting Executive Director of National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) highlighted that the core study is to quantify the effect of malnutrition on the economy, mainly focusing on health, education, and productivity, and help to re-strategise efforts at reducing the nutrition gaps.
“We collaborated to develop strategies to fortify commonly consumed products to address micronutrient deficiencies,” Mr Fofana said. “Our country has a law mandating that all oil consumed or imported be fortified with vitamin E. Also, flour is fortified with iron to combat anaemia, and salt is fortified with iodine to address iodine deficiency.”
The NaNA director stated that the study would help them revisit their approach to addressing these issues, as presently the country is facing a triple burden of high rates of under-nutrition including stunting, wasting, and underweight, alongside increasing rates of over nutrition and obesity leading to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, anaemia, and vitamin deficiency.
He mentioned that the rates of wasting and stunting are increasing, and there is also a rise in hypertension and diabetes.
The study comprises three phases, he pointed out, saying the first phase involves scoping, planning, and engaging stakeholders; the second phase involves data collection, and the third phase involves finalising the report, validating the findings, and disseminating recommendations for policies, strategies, protocols, and guidelines to ensure The Gambia is free of malnutrition as outlined in their mission.
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