[Remarks as Prepared]
DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR COLEMAN: Good evening, everyone. It’s wonderful to be with you today as we mark the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and the 2022 Africa Year of Nutrition. It is a privilege to represent USAID as we work together on an ambitious yet achievable goal – to end hunger once and for all. It is because of the leadership of many in this room – the NGO and donor communities, civil society and country partners, our allies and supporters in both houses of Congress – that the United States was able to pass the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act.
This landmark, bipartisan legislation codifies USAID’s commitment to prevent and treat malnutrition, with a focus on evidence-based interventions across health and food systems in development and humanitarian settings. Passage of this legislation could not have come at a more pivotal moment, as we face a global malnutrition crisis driven by a confluence of events, including the global pandemic, climate change, protracted humanitarian crises, and Russia’s unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine. The most severe impacts of this crisis have hit the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. This year, more than a million people were displaced in Somalia alone due to drought-induced hunger.
As this group knows, malnutrition drives nearly half of deaths among children under five around the world. But with sufficient, targeted resources and simple, evidence-based investments, this crisis is not only treatable, it is preventable. USAID’s approach to tackling malnutrition is grounded in ramping up nutrition commitments across Africa, including through our Feed the Future investments in enhancing the production, affordability, and marketing of safe and nutritious foods that reduce malnutrition and improve diet quality. Last year alone, USAID supported nutrition programming that reached over 25 million children with nutrition-specific interventions in 21 African countries.
At the 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit, Administrator Power announced our intention to invest $11 billion in nutrition over the next three years and made important policy commitments focused on exclusive breastfeeding, nutrition data systems, and wasting treatment and prevention. We were thrilled to see governments across Africa as well as the African Union and the African Development Bank, making their own substantial policy and financial commitments.
While we celebrate the success of Nutrition for Growth, we also recognize that the challenges to global nutrition, particularly in Africa, have grown even greater. We remain particularly concerned about the unprecedented number of children experiencing wasting. According to UNICEF, an additional 260,000 children across 15 of the most affected countries –12 of which are in Africa – have suffered from severe wasting since the beginning of this year.
In response, USAID announced over $500 million dollars in additional resources above those pledged at Nutrition for Growth to enable UNICEF to scale up access to wasting treatment in the places most acutely impacted by the current food crisis. This unprecedented investment, mobilized alongside a broad range of philanthropic and government partners, will enable USAID and partners to continue this critical work in places like South Sudan, for example, where 1.34 million children are expected to suffer from wasting this year. As we scale up these life-saving services for children, we also need to focus on strengthening health systems so they can effectively respond to evolving nutrition needs.
For our part, USAID helps countries strengthen their ability to deliver and scale their nutrition services through existing health structures, including by training health workers to counsel new moms on breastfeeding practices and providing nutrition services at infant care facilities.
In Rwanda, for example, USAID interventions have led to exclusive breastfeeding rates of over 80 percent and vitamin A supplementation reaching over 90 percent of children. USAID is also redoubling our commitment to large-scale food fortification. Increased public investment in food fortification remains one of the most cost-effective ways to tackle malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. 372 million preschool-aged children and 1.2 billion women globally are estimated to have one or more micronutrient deficiencies, resulting in increased susceptibility to infections, birth defects, and cognitive impairment. Meanwhile, iron and iodine fortification costs less than ten cents per person.
This October, alongside private sector companies, civil society, and country governments, USAID announced a new $75 million dollar investment to scale our current food fortification efforts. Recognizing that no government or donor can achieve results alone, our expanded programming puts the food industry at the center of the solution, seeking to build trust and provide the technical assistance and financing needed to integrate fortification into their businesses.
USAID’s programming also works with partner governments to set and enforce nutritional standards, helping to expand the number of countries with fortification mandates and raise compliance rates across low-and middle-income countries with existing standards. Finally, we’re investing in long-term food security solutions that will prevent malnutrition from occurring in the first place.
Thanks to bipartisan support in Congress, the U.S. Government is committing $760 million to expand and scale agricultural programs that support farmers and communities around the world buffeted by rising food, fuel, and fertilizer prices. As COVID-19, climate change, and Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine continue to undermine food systems, it is on all of us to keep striving to feed the world.
African institutions are increasingly leading the charge to mobilize domestic and international resources and provide political will. Just this morning, AU Commissioner Samaté delivered the Martin J. Forman Lecture, demonstrating the leadership on nutrition needed to drive change. And civil society is working hand-in-hand with partners in Africa and helping to elevate the importance of investing in nutrition. Together, we have an opportunity to build support for our shared goal of a world that is fed and nourished. Thank you.