African Nutrition Matters

Late holidays gift: The latest issue of our newsletter is freely available online. Enjoy!

Volume 4 No. 6 –  Focus on nutrition sensitive agriculture.

https://issuu.com/anmatters/docs/anm-nl-4-6

Round 3 of IMMANA Fellowships is open until Feb 1, 2017

The call for Round 3 applications is now open.

Postdoctoral Fellowships on Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA Fellowships) aim to create a cadre of emerging leaders in agriculture, nutrition, and health research.

Concept notes should be submitted as soon as possible, and will be accepted on a rolling basis until 1 February 2017.

Applicants must submit a…

Survey: eNutrition Academy – Need and Demand for e-learning

The eNA partners have embarked upon a major drive to make learning materials and training available to African scientists, students, and practitioners through an online learning platform that is free at the point of access. In order to develop materials the eNA partners need to understand the  demand for e-learning in Africa and the experiences students and trainees have had with e-learning…

Valorization of African foods: Review of the therapeutic effects of Argan oil

Argan oil is a typical Moroccan vegetable oil. The oil is extracted from the fruit of Argania spinosa, an endemic tree from South-Western Morocco. Since 2014, Argan practices and know-how concerning the Argan tree have been registered on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. In this entry we will report some of the work that has been done on the…

IUNS 21st ICN International Congress of Nutrition

Call for abstracts and Registrations for the 21st ICN are open. The conference is scheduled for 15-20 October 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Important deadlines:

Abstracts submission: 31st March 2017

Early Bird Registration: 31st May 2017

ANEC7: 2nd call for abstracts

The call for abstracts for the 7th Africa Nutritional Epidemiology Conference has been extended June 30th, 2016.

All abstracts must be sent via email to: [email protected]

Guidelines for abstracts’ submission:

Title: Limited to 12-20 words in UPPER CASE

Authors: List all authors’ first and last name.

Affiliation: List affiliations of all authors.

Correspondence:Include the email address…

Applications for the 2015 francophone African Nutrition Leadership seminar in Morocco are open - Deadline: 15 March 2015.

Candidatures ouvertes pour le Programme de Leadership en Nutrition 2015 au Maroc - Dernier délai: 15 mars 2015.

Participate to the African Nutrition Matters' photo contest by submitting nutrition related pictures or illustrations that inspired you and might inspire others.

Conditions of participation: 

- The picture or illustration must be your own work.

- Your work should be shared under a Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org/).

- Your work must not be offensive.

Deadline: April 1st, 2015. 

Send us your work (with a 100 words description) via one of our social profiles or to our email (newsletter[at]answeb.org). The best contributions will be subject to a public vote and the winner will be published on the next issue of African Nutrition Matters.

By Jane Sherman, Ramani Wijesinha-Bettoni, Yvette Fautsch, Anthony Jennings, Melissa Vargas, Ellen Muehlhoff (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization)

Background to ENACT

Promoting healthy and sustainable diets for everyone is a major aim of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). People need access to adequate food and must be empowered to make healthy food choices. Nutrition education is key to ensuring the knowledge and skills to practise healthy eating.

In 2010-2011 FAO conducted an assessment of professional training in nutrition education in seven countries in Africa, which highlighted the need for capacity development in this field. In January 2012 FAO started the ENACT project to develop, pre-test and disseminate a basic undergraduate course in nutrition education, to be delivered both face-to-face and online. During 2012-14, seven African partner universities (Botswana, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda) contributed to developing the course by piloting it and discussing it at workshops in Ghana, Uganda and Ethiopia. You can find out more at:

http://www.fao.org/ag/humannutrition/nutritioneducation/69725/en/

ENACT at ANEC

Two events were held at ANEC 2014 to publicize ENACT and its proposed extension to francophone Africa, ENAF (The ENACT project in Francophone Africa).

1/ A pre-conference workshop to introduce ENACT, targeting university and NGO staff;

2/A symposium conducted with piloting partners to share piloting country experiences.

These contributions were very timely since there was a strong conference focus on nutrition capacity building and the expansion of e-learning. Many institutes expressed interest in incorporating ENACT into their curricula.

Pre-conference orientation workshop: The workshop was facilitated by two experienced ENACT tutors—Dr Gloria Otoo from the University of Ghana and Prof. Judith Kimiywe from Kenyatta University, Kenya. The 24 participants attending the session reported enjoying the approach. Interest was expressed in having a longer orientation/training session, developing diploma and postgraduate versions of ENACT, and extending it to other health professionals (medical students, nurses).

Symposium: The session, which was attended by approximately 70 people, was opened by Dr Anna Lartey, Director of FAO Nutrition Division. Interest was high and the discussion was lively. Piloting partners from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, ENACT team members and Dr Paul Amuna delivered brief presentations, and piloting students from the University of Ghana also shared their experiences.

What’s next?

The face-to-face version of the ENACT module is being finalized, and work on the online version is ongoing. Piloting partners are now being selected for the project in Francophone Africa (ENAF). Once finalized, the ENACT material will be available free to interested institutions.

In conclusion…

By professor Martin Wiseman

Right now cancer is less of a problem in Africa than in higher income partsof the world, like Europe, North America and Oceania, where rates ofcancer are at least double that in Africa.  Although the occurrence of different cancers varies across the continent, Africa is a low risk area compared to other parts of the globe for cancers of the lung, bowel, breast and prostate. So why, you might ask, have I been invited to talk about cancer at the African Nutrition Epidemiology Congress?

I mean, it’s not just that the rates of these globally common cancers are rather low in Africa, but that those cancers that do occur more commonly in Africa are related to infections – those of the cervix (human papilloma virus – HPV), stomach (H. pylori), oesophagus (HPV again) and Kaposi’s sarcoma (HIV/AIDS).  By contrast, the most common cancers in high-income countries – breast, colon, prostate, lung – are not known to have infective origins, and are more closely linked to lifestyle behaviours such as smoking or being overweight and obese.

Cancer rates are set to increase globally by 50% by 2030

Well, the answer is that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of new cancers occurring globally every year will go up from the current figure of about 14 million, to 22 million by 2030 – an increase of 50%. And they estimate that the vast majority of this increase is going to happen in lower income countries.

Lower income countries are adopting Western dietary patterns

There are two main reasons for this – firstly, a general increase in the numbers of older people across the globe. Of course this increase in life expectancy is generally to be welcomed, and is not something we’d want to reverse, but the fact is that cancers mainly occur in older people. Secondly, the lower income countries of the world – including many in Africa – are undergoing a real change in the way people live their lives. They are becoming more urban and less rural; less physically active in everyday life; they are adopting Western – fast becoming international – dietary patterns, and are subject to global marketing and other social and political pressures.

The result of this so-called nutrition transition is that over the next few decades, people in Africa are likely to develop rates and cancer patterns similar to those we see in the higher income countries.  But this is largely avoidable. At World Cancer Research Fund International, we estimate that in high income countries about a third of the commonest cancers, and about a quarter of all cancers, could be avoided by being more physically active, eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight. Together with smoking, according to the World Health Organization, that means about half of all cancers are avoidable.

And while the UK and other developed countries have allowed this to happen, it could be prevented in countries going through the social changes that we have already experienced. The typical high-income pattern of sedentary behaviour and poor diet is an unintended consequence of economic development – but not a necessary one. These lifestyle behaviours have been considered to be off limits for politicians, resulting in an environment that has changed remarkably over the last few decades; where the default position for most people is not to eat healthily and be active, but just the opposite.

Across the world, countries are only just beginning to wake up to the enormous cost of treating diseases related to poor nutrition, such as cancer and heart disease; not to mention the added cost of lost productivity due to ill health and early death. Put simply, such diseases cost a fortune – a fortune that low income countries just don’t have.  So prevention has to be the sensible answer, and that means garnering the political will to create healthy food environments for populations across the world. Although for the UK, the boat has sailed, for countries in Africa there is a chance – a limited window, but a chance – to not let that happen.

Examples of effective food policies from around the world

Our policy team works to encourage national governments to take comprehensive policy action to promote healthier diets.  African countries can learn from effective policies that have been implemented elsewhere and tailor them to their specific context.

By prof. emer. Catherine Geissler

Sometimesthe greatest gift to help people improve their lives is knowledge. Many charities do excellent work in developing nations, distributing donations by way of money, food, clothes and through local infrastructure projects.

The eNutrition Academy (eNA) is also a charity. However, the way in which it aims to help people is very different. The eNA’s mission is to give people knowledge, to help train nutritionists in developing nations, enabling them to advise their governments and populations on the best options for them.

The eNutrition Academy has been created to help teach nutrition science to a new generation of nutritionists around the world free of charge; especially in parts of the world where people are most at risk of malnutrition such as Africa, South Asia and South America. The eNA is backed by five founding partners: the African Nutrition Society (ANS), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), Federation of African Nutrition Societies, International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) and the Nutrition Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The eNA was formally launched at the sixth African Nutrition Epidemiology Conference (ANEC VI) in Ghana in July 2014. There was a great deal of interest in the new organisation with real support from delegates.

The global e-learning platform is being delivered by Cambridge University Press and contributions to course materials are expected from academics around the world. The eNutrition Academy will initially offer its online courses in Africa where there is an urgent need for capacity building. Understanding and applying nutrition science can have a significant, positive impact on public health and the huge global problems we face around malnutrition and obesity. Qualified nutritionists and dietitians have a major role to play in policy making, healthcare, education, agriculture and food manufacturing. The eNA will work in partnership with local universities and colleges to complement and enhance their offering to students. It will also be of great benefit to those already in work seeking continuous professional development.

The first eNA course – Assessment of Dietary Intake for Individuals – is currently being tested. More courses will follow in due course. The eNA would like to hear from universities teaching nutrition and dietetics courses across Africa to forge early partnerships and gauge interest. Those getting involved in the eNA at this early stage will have a real opportunity to influence the sort of course content that is made available and shape how the online platform is used and evaluated.

The eNA is focusing on the African continent in the first instance. Courses will be tailored for the African market, designed to suit local needs and infrastructure, so that nutrition science capacity-building is regionally led and local scientific knowledge helps us meet African requirements.

To find out more about the eNA, and get details of how to contact us please visit the website: www.enutritionacademy.org