Establish a regulatory body for nutrition

National Multisectoral Nutrition and Food Committee is set up and functional in 2022

Malnutrition in all its forms not only contributes to infant and child mortality but also negatively affects economic growth and perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

• In the Union of the Comoros, data from the 2012 Demographic and Health Survey show that the nutritional situation of children under 5 years of age remains worrying, with stunting estimated at 30%, wasting at 11% and underweight at 16%.

• The link between malnutrition, low economic growth and poverty still seems to have little resonance in development programmes and policies, yet a significant investment in nutrition can save lives, produce considerable health and human capital benefits and boost a country’s GDP.

• In view of the enormous challenges facing the country in the area of nutrition and food, it is essential and urgent to set up the National Multisectoral Nutrition and Food Committee (NMNFC). Its establishment must be accompanied by implementing bodies.

• The institutional anchoring of nutrition and food security through the establishment of the NMNFC will ensure the multisectoral coordination and governance required according to the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) approach for sustainable changes in the nutritional situation. This is also conducive to operationalising the National Multisectoral Nutrition and Food Policy (2018-2025).

• The installation and functioning of the different organs of this committee will testify to the strong commitment of the government to nutrition and the efforts made to address it from different angles in order to accelerate the reduction of hunger and combat malnutrition.

• The functioning of this committee reinforces the idea that only a multisectoral approach is beneficial to prevent the harmful effects of malnutrition in all its forms in a sustainable manner.