First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo with Oley Dibaba-Wadda
The African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) has inaugurated Ghana’s First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo as a nutrition champion, acknowledging her work and commitment to sound nutrition and the well-being of mothers and infants.
The ALN initiative is a platform for high-level advocacy and engagement to advance nutrition in Africa, endorsed by the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union (AU).
Mrs. Akufo-Addo, who is also founder of The Rebecca Foundation, joins His Excellency Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar, His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho and African Union Nutrition Champion, Dr. Howarth Bouis, Acting CEO of HarvestPlus as the 2018 nutrition champions.
The inauguration was done by John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Ghana, Founder of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation and Co-Chair of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, as well and Co-founder of ALN.
The first lady expressed gratitude to ALN, spearheaded by the African Development Bank “for deeming me fit to be a champion for nutrition.”
Calling her nomination an honour, the first lady said, “Of the basic necessities in life, I consider none more profoundly critical to humanity’s collective development and wellbeing than good nutrition. The time has come for us to deal a definitive blow to malnutrition in Africa.”
“I acknowledge the instrumental role played by His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor in the establishment of the African Leaders for Nutrition and for personally nominating me as an ALN Champion,” she stated.
The first lady also applauded the contribution of Dr. Akinwuni Adesina, President of African Development Bank and Chairperson of African Leaders for Nutrition Initiative.
On the mandate as the ‘Nutrition Champion’ for Africa, Mrs. Akufo-Addo indicated that working with the Kufour Foundation, the African Leaders for Nutrition Initiative and other stakeholders, “she will employ creative and ingenious strategies to achieve the ultimate goal of entrenching proper nutrition in Africa.”
Mrs. Akufo-Addo added that the issue of nutrition strikes at the very future of the African continent and “we are losing about a quarter of the continent’s future potential leaders to malnutrition.”
“I consider it a great opportunity therefore, to be called upon by the African Leaders for Nutrition Initiative to serve my dear country Ghana and Africa as a whole, in the capacity of champion of nutrition. It is a charge I do not take lightly,” she assured.
African Development Bank Director of Human Capital Youth & Skills Department, Oley Dibba-Wadda, described the appointment as “a high-profile addition to our network of nutrition champions that will drive forward the ALN to ensure Africa’s food systems and diets support good nutrition”.
Many African countries are making excellent progress on tackling malnutrition. Ghana, for example, reduced stunting from 35 per cent to 19 per cent between 2003 and 2014. But more needs to be done. Malnutrition through poor-quality diets is a greater public health threat than malaria, tuberculosis or measles.
BY Melvin Tarlue