Investing in nutrition is investing in people

Participants of the Mali National Nutrition Forum called for strong engagement of the Government to double investments on nutrition.

More than 400 policy makers, experts, and researchers endorsed the need for a better inclusion of millet, sorghum and groundnut in the food and nutrition system at the Mali National Nutrition Forum in Bamako.

Dr Boubou Cissé during the opening ceremony of the National Nutrition Forum.

The forum served as an effective platform for sharing and capitalizing on experiences and lessons learnt, and to explore new ways for impactful and sustainable sectoral governance on food and nutritional security in Mali. ICRISAT, in a special session, highlighted the Smart Food Initiative with exhibits at the venue.

The forum also brought together technical and financial partners, regional and local rural development technicians, actors of industrial food processing, consumer associations, representatives of NGOs and civil society organizations involved in the fight against food and nutrition insecurity.

Organized in July, the opening ceremony of the Forum was chaired by Dr Boubou Cissé, Prime Minister of Mali – Minister of Economy and Finances, with Mr Daniel Kablan Duncan, Vice-President of Côte d’Ivoire, Ms Gerda Verburg, UN Assistant Secretary-General and SUN Movement coordinator, Mr Jakaya Kikwete, former President of Tanzania, and Dr Purnima Kashyap, REACH, Coordinator.

The forum concluded with a call for strong engagement of the government to double investments in nutrition. It also called for increased funding from the domestic private sector.

Interventions on nutrition were also identified and prioritized by the participants.