{"id":61837,"date":"2013-10-16T13:22:13","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T13:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=61837"},"modified":"2013-10-16T13:22:13","modified_gmt":"2013-10-16T13:22:13","slug":"on-world-food-day-wfp-says-investment-in-nutrition-is-key-to-unlocking-a-better-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=61837","title":{"rendered":"ON WORLD FOOD DAY, WFP SAYS INVESTMENT IN NUTRITION IS KEY TO UNLOCKING A BETTER FUTURE"},"content":{"rendered":"

FREETOWN<\/b> \u2013 The UN World Food Programme (WFP<\/a>) is marking World Food Day on 16 October by highlighting the power of nutrition to transform individuals, societies and economies, and the need to make it central to all development efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cUndernourished girls and boys face barriers in health, in school performance and later, in the workplace, which limit their human potential and their capacity to contribute to the societies in which they live,\u201d said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrioritising nutrition today is an investment in our collective global future.\u00a0 The investment must involve food, agriculture, health and education systems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Today some 842 million people – more than one in eight people in the world \u2013 suffer from chronic hunger. Yet even more \u2013 around two billion people – lack the vitamins and minerals needed to live healthy lives.<\/p>\n

If the global community invested US$1.2 billion per year for five years on reducing micronutrient deficiencies, the benefits in better health, fewer child deaths and increased future earnings would generate gains worth US$15.3 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Sierra Leone, WFP is providing short-term and long-term interventions in order to simultaneously tackle the immediate and underlying causes of poverty, hunger and malnutrition by supporting school children through school feeding, the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition in children aged 6\u201359 months, pregnant and lactating women and HIV and tuberculosis patients. Additionally, WFP works to prevent stunting by targeting the first 1,000 days and children aged 6\u201323 months. As a long-term measure, WFP provides support to sustainable agriculture and rural development, as well as supporting the smallholder farmers through purchasing local produce and their capacity building,\u201d said WFP Country Director Gon Myers.<\/p>\n

The theme of this year\u2019s World Food Day is \u201cSustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

Providing food assistance to 97 million people worldwide, here are some of the ways WFP focuses on nutrition:
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