Of the world's undernourished children, 80% live in 20 countries; nine
of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is home to 15 of the 16
countries where prevalence of hunger exceeds 35 per cent. This
precarious food security situation in Africa has been compounded by
economic and food crises which began in 2007, resulting in a rise by
about 83% in food commodity prices.When food is in short supply, safety
is compromised resulting in the consumption of unsafe food. Assuring
safe food and ending malnutrition require decisive actions in several
areas. In line with its Core Functions, global and regional agreements
and as a key player in health, the WHO's vital role in addressing the
food crisis is in preventing the effects of food insecurity,
undernutrition and unsafe food. In order to scale-up actions to address
the adverse effects of food insecurity and malnutrition in the African
Region, the forty-fourth session of the Regional Programme Meeting
(RPM44) discussed the topic Food Crisis in Africa: Implications for
Nutrition and Food Safety Actions in the Region. A framework was
therefore developed to facilitate joint actions in addressing the food
crisis and malnutrition in the WHO African Region for better impact at
country level. This paper provides a summary of the Framework which
highlight WHO's role in the area of nutrition. It has four guiding
principles: Country- level interventions, Community involvement and
ownership; Adoption of multi-sectoral approach; Protection of
vulnerable groups; and Evidence- based interventions. The Framework
proposes actions to be implemented in countries with support of WHO and
partners to meet the immediate food and nutritional needs of the
vulnerable and build longer-term resilience to contribute to national
food security. The expected impact of the implementation of these
actions with support from WHO and partners is prevention of morbidity,
mortality and the irreversible long-term effects of malnutrition on
health and cognitive development
