UN Nutrition Network makes agreement with AfDB to put efforts in Zambia

Zambia’s Lusaka-based African Development Bank in association with the United Nations Nutrition Network decided to work behind effective implementation of the South African country’s national food and nutrition agenda.

African Development Bank and the UN Nutrition Network made the agreement recently in the first week of September when Mary Monyau, the Country Manager, African Development Bank in Zambia hosted the global coordinator and director of the UN Nutrition Network, Purnima Kashyap. Both (Mary Monyau and Purnima Kashyap) recognized the role of good nutrition as the basis for sustainable human development.

Based on the agreement, the UN Nutrition Network will be dedicating its efforts in ensuring the achievement of the world body’s commitments in Scaling Up Nutrition with other UN agencies and international organizations in Zambia.

 Nutrition is at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the Bank’s High 5s – Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, Industrialize Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. According to Mary Monyau, tracking of nutrition outcomes is an important part of the Bank’s portfolio development and the African Development Bank has supported global efforts with specific interventions on nutrition, including financing the establishment of child feeding centres, promoting fruits, legumes, cashew nuts, poultry products and fish farming.

Earlier, it provided support to an emergency relief fund, and integrated UN-led recovery efforts after droughts and floods in Zambia. Purnima Kashyap highlighted the work of the UN Network for Nutrition and several monitoring tools that are being applied in varied nations.

On the other hand, the formulation of two key strategic messages has been agreed by Purnima Kashyap and Mary Monyau. Those messages are to sustain multi-agency coordination of nutrition-related efforts in Zambia in line with a new African strategy to strengthen policies and regulatory frameworks around nutrition, as well as to sensitize the population on healthy diets.

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