Adesina laments rising cases of malnourished children in Africa
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has expressed concern over the rising cases of stunted children caused by malnutrition in Africa.
Adesina expressed the concern at the African leaders for nutrition high-level dinner for heads of state in Addisa Ababa, Ethipia.
The AfDB president’s position was contained in a statement made available to journalists by the bank’s Communications and External Relations Department on Sunday.
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He explained that Africa is the only continent where the number of stunted children has increased over the last two decades, stating that the stunted children in Africa have increased to 58.5 million in 2018, from 50.3 million at the turn of the century.
According to him, of the 39 per cent of the world’s stunted children, 28 per cent of the wasted children are in Africa.
“They are prone to inhibited intellectual and physical growth, and sometimes even premature death. These are not just statistics; these are people, our children.
“Like I have always said stunted children in Africa today, means stunted economies tomorrow. We know that a loss in adult height by just one per cent due to childhood stunting can lead to a 1.4 per cent loss in economic productivity.
“We cannot and we will not accept this. We must turn the tide. And to turn the tide, you need leaders. And you, present here today are the leaders. In my culture, there is a saying elders can’t be in the market place and observe a baby’s neck slump over its mother’s back.
“You, our heads of state and other leaders present here today are our elders. We are in a market place where the heads of babies are slumping. As elders, we can’t let this happen. We need you, the elders to turn the tide” he stated.
Adesina said it was because of this development that the bank set up the African leaders for nutrition where it brings together heads of state, finance ministers and other eminent leaders.
He added that the aim of bringing the leaders together is to raise awareness, ensure accountability and reinforce investment by African governments to end malnutrition among children.
According to him, a lot has been achieved since it kicked off at the 30th ordinary session of the assembly of the heads of state and governments of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, in February 2019.
