Press Release No. IFAD/26/2001

Fiuggi - September 26, 2001 - Globally about 215 million children continue to suffer from chronic malnutrition. One-third of all the children in the developing countries are malnourished. The problem is most severe in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Chronic malnutrition is debilitating. Malnourished children face higher risk of mortality and impaired mental and motor development. Chronic malnutrition restricts development capacity of communities and perpetuates inter-generational transmission of poverty.

International efforts to alleviate poverty and to improve food and nutrition security have been made. However, these have not generated results in line with expectations. In this context, the International Fund for Agricultural Development based in Rome conducted a workshop on malnutrition which ended this week, with participation from NGOs from developing countries, governments, research institutions, bilateral and multilateral institutions including UN agencies.

The workshop deliberations based on research and field experiences concluded that chronic malnutrition is closely linked to poverty. It is caused by gender discrimination, limited access to food, healthcare and education, and insufficient knowledge about child nutrition. The workshop concluded that anthropometric indicators, particularly physical measurements of height for age, are simple, accurate and cost effective tools to measure progress made in reducing chronic malnutrition.

Placing chronic malnutrition at the centre of poverty reduction strategies is important in future programme design. It requires a considerable amount of sensitization at all levels and improved inter-agency collaboration. Community based organizations will have to own the strategy. The development assistance to reduce poverty and chronic malnutrition will have to be provided within the framework of assistance for community based organizations. It would focus on activities the poor prioritize. Programmes will emphasize empowerment of women and decentralized governance. Programme design needs to establish explicit targets for reducing chronic malnutrition, and measure the impact over the life of the programme.

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IFAD is a specialised agency of the United Nations with the specific mandate of combating hunger and poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978 IFAD has financed 584 projects in 114 recipient countries and in the West Bank and Gaza for a total commitment of approximately USD 7.2 billion in loans and grants. Through these projects, about 250 million rural people have had a chance to move out of poverty. IFAD makes the greater part of its resources available to low-income countries on very favourable terms, with up to 40 years for repayment and including a grace period of up to ten years and a service charge of 0.75% per year.