Namibia's children trapped by malnutrition

Although malnutrition rates in Namibia have decreased, too many children are still “trapped in the clutches” of this devastating condition. This is according to Vice-president Nangolo Mbumba, whose speech was read on his behalf at the commemoration of World Food Day that was held in the Kavango West Region under the theme 'Our Actions Are Our Future: A Zero Hunger World by 2030 is Possible'. He said one in four young children in Namibia suffers from stunting, which means they are too short for their age. Mbumba said according to the health ministry's statistics, 24% of children under five in Namibia are stunted, while 6% suffer from wasting and 13% are underweight. “Stunted growth not only slows down bone growth but it also delays children's cognitive and social development and impairs school performance. This level of chronic malnutrition also shows how inequitable life opportunities are for many children in our country.”Mbumba said such children are at higher risk of death, poor health, poor growth and poor development. “A multi-sectoral approach is needed to reduce the burden of stunting and wasting, and to appropriately treat wasting to reduce childhood morbidity and mortality.”He said droughts and floods have become more frequent and intense, giving communities no respite. New plant and animal pests and diseases have also emerged, and the established ones attack more ferociously. For example, fall armyworms are devastating the food and agriculture sector.He said climate variability and exposure to climate extremes was one of the leading causes of recent increases in hunger worldwide. “The pace and severity of climate change is presenting new challenges. Changes in temperature and precipitation, as well as more frequent extreme weather events, are expected to result in crop and livestock production shortfalls and other asset losses, thereby not only threatening food production but also access, stability and utilisation of food resources.”Mbumba said in some areas the changes may well exceed people's adaptation capacity. According to him the adaptation measures will focus on strengthening measures already in place, such as sustainable and ecological farming practices, early-warning systems, systems to identify climate change “hot spots”, and disaster risk management.“We should focus on rural investment to reduce the long-term effects of short-term climate variability on food security, through crop insurance and incentives that encourage farmers to adopt better agricultural and land use practices.” Mbumba therefore appealed to all responsible ministries, agents and offices of government, academia, farmers and the private sector to accelerate and scale up actions to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity in the face of changing climate variability and increasing weather extremes.He said pressure on food supply could be reduced through technologies that make use of degraded or marginal land to sustainably intensify production and by integrating food and energy production systems using appropriate farming practices. According to him food security may improve locally where the demand for feedstock drives investment in agriculture, creates new employment and market opportunities for small producers and revitalises the rural economy.“We need investment to improve the links between field and plate. We need policies to spur more private-sector investment in agriculture and rural development to boost social protection programmes for the vulnerable and to optimise linkages between food producers and consumers.”He said science and innovation were needed to find the best seeds that would not only increase yields and crop hardiness, but also seeds with greater nutritional value, to save precious water resources and to protect biodiversity. The adoption of climate-smart practices is also central to making sure food systems are able to adapt to climate change and contribute to its mitigation, he said. ELLANIE SMIT

Namibia's children trapped by malnutrition

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Namibia's children trapped by malnutrition

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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