? 29-30 October ? 12:00 PM – 15:00 PM (Addis Ababa/Eastern Africa Time)
Virtual
The Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) was declared in July 2010 by the African Union Heads of State and Government at the 15th Ordinary Session of the AU Summit in Kampala, Uganda. This decision was made in the wake of unacceptably persistent food insecurity epitomized by chronic malnutrition on the continent.
The ADFNS has so far been successfully commemorated ten times following its launch in Lilongwe, Malawi, on 31st October 2010. Successive editions of the Day were hosted by Ethiopia, AU Headquarters, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Egypt.
The overarching aim of the ADFNS is to serve as a platform for rallying political, technical, and financial commitments at all levels to address contemporary challenges to the implementation of food and nutrition security interventions in Africa. To-date, statistics of undernutrition, over-weight, micronutrient deficiencies, uncontrolled marketing, and consumption of unsafe food and their related dire effects on health, nutritional status, wellbeing, and economies on the continent, are upsetting. A number of policy recommendations – including high-level decisions – have been documented to improve the situation. However, there remain substantial bottlenecks hindering efforts to reverse the situation with persistent disparities, as well as emerging challenges including conflict and climate variability. The commemoration of the ADFNS also provides a platform at national, regional, and continental levels to share experiences and knowledge and to take stock of progress made in assuring the availability of quality food for improved nutrition and health of all Africans.
In light of the foregoing considerations, the theme of the 11th ADFNS improved food security and nutrition through the ADFNS under the Theme: “Resilient Food Systems toward Healthy Diets for the Vulnerable during Emergencies: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic”
The main aim of commemorating the 2020 ADFNS is to motivate an appreciation of the underlying benefits and potential that investment in resilient food systems can create. It is also hoped that the event will generate momentum toward implementation of continental, regional, and national food and nutrition policy.
Original source: AU
