Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounts for 1/3 of children malnourished globally, a condition contributing to 45% of child mortality under the age of five. Furthermore, malnutrition, particularly in the first 1,000 days of life, leads to reduced cognitive development and stunting which affects 39.4% of SSA children. Yet, Africa’s population is projected to quadruple in this century. At the same time, Africa is experiencing increasing frequency and length of periods of extreme climate, drastically threatening food and nutritional security.
Through the implementation of its unique 3-pronged model, AOCC has shown that a well-trained National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) workforce, building a community of practice (CoP), and support from local and international governments and partners can effectively begin to tackle this crisis. Since it began operations in 2013, the AOCC has facilitated significant human, operational and capital resources (see 2023 Report). Collectively among the 172 scientist alumni of AOCC’s professional development programs, $176M in external funding to advance NARS breeding programs has been garnered, 143 high-yielding, climate-resilient crop varieties have been developed and released to farmers, 665 scientific articles have been published in high-impact journals, and the African Plant Breeders Association CoP has been established.
Evidence has shown that climate-resilient crop varieties, not only deliver increased yield but increase income and profitability for farmers and expand markets to rural and urban consumers. Smallholder farmers, especially in crops grown by African women, not only benefit from more plentiful nutrition from the increased yield but the increased income is the primary driver for diversifying their diets to access essential nutrients that address malnutrition, the main cause of stunting.
We believe that the most effective solution is to enable Africans to formulate and build national strategies and policies through their NARS with stakeholder- and science-driven objectives along the crop value chains. This strategy begins with the development of climate-resilient nutrient-balanced local crop food portfolios and delivery systems available to target populations.
AOCC’s Phase II Strategy is to enable the Movement of Scientific Leaders that has resulted from Phase I action. We aim to identify and develop focused crop portfolios targeting specific dietary needs for year-round nutrition in regions of east, west, central, and southern Africa. We see women as key to solutions to the generational cycle of nutrient deficiency. Healthful diets for young women, particularly ahead of, during, and after childbearing, as well as for children through age 5 can address vulnerable timepoints for irreversible effects that diminish human potential.
Please join us in tackling this critical challenge. For more information please contact:
Allen Van Deynze, Scientific director, AOCC, avandeynze@ucdavis.edu
Rita Mumm, Director of capacity development and Mobilisation, AOCC, ritamumm@illinois.edu
Alice Muchugi, Theme Leader for Tree Genetic Resources and Biodiversity (TREES), CIFOR-ICRAF, A.Muchugi@cifor-icraf.org