The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) office in the Gambia, has validated the 2021 Rapid Food Consumption Survey, at a ceremony held on April 7, 2022 at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Bijilo. This came after data analysis and compilation of the final report in the Gambia. The validated document captured the potential nutritional impact of food fortification and bio-fortification programs of the FAO through the European Union-FAO core-funded project entitled, ‘Improving Food Security and Nutrition’ in the Gambia through food fortification.
In her opening remarks, the FAO Country Representative, Ms. Moshibudi Rampedi said the survey was conducted in October 2021, and it was the first national survey of its kind in the country. It was coordinated by her office since 2017, according to her; and she added the document is aimed at generating information on the average consumption of selected food vehicles, fruits and vegetables among children between 6-59 months, and women of reproductive age 15-49 years in the Gambia.
The FAO Representative further stated the food fortification and bio-fortification project was initiated by her office to support national efforts in addressing micronutrients deficiencies and improve dietary diversity. Madam Rampedi noted that has aided the government to establish the necessary legal and regulatory framework for food fortification such as wheat flour, rice, edible fats and oils through the food fortification regulation 2020.
The project, she reported, is supporting the agenda to transform and make agriculture ‘nutrition sensitive’ in line with agenda 2030, noting a number of crops such as maize, Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) were bio-fortified and successfully piloted in Central River Region North (CRRN), CRR South (CRRS), and North Bank Region (NBR). She informed the gathering the project developed nutrition social and behavior change communication program, and that key messages promoting the consumption of micronutrient-rich foods, dietary diversity and optimal infant and young child feeding practices were developed in close collaboration with the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and the Ministry of Health as well as other partners.
The Executive Director of National Nutrition Agency, Dr. Ahmad Bah, told his audience the Gambia is experiencing a double burden of malnutrition where under nutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition and over nutrition, coexist.
He said under nutrition is improving, however, the current situation is far from the desired results. The NaNA boss went on to state that the Gambia micronutrient survey 2018 and DHS (Demographic and Health Survey) 2019-2020 had showed that significant progress has been made in the reduction of malnutrition, but more still needs to be done to meet the WHO targets.
According to statistics from NaNA, children under 5 years of age account for the following: 17.5% of the children are stunted, 5.1% are wasting, 11.6% are underweight, while anemia stands at 44.8% among children under 5 years in the Gambia.
The nutrition specialist added that 44.3% of childbearing ages are malnourished, noting that NaNA and partners have created series of interventions such as the vitamin A supplementation for children under 5 years, multiple- micronutrient supplementation for children 6-24 months, salt iodization for the general population and iron supplementation for pregnant women to curb malnutrition levels in the country.
Executive Director Bah said maintaining balanced nutrition is quite cumbersome since it is fragile, as it’s largely tie to external factors. He pointed out the current Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as the one in the restive Senegalese region of Casamance (between Senegalese government and MFDC rebels) as fragile factors that could easily impact nutrition levels in the country.
