Today is World Food Day. This year is a build-up to achieving #ZeroHunger by the year 2030. One of the suggestions that the United Nations made on what farmers and agribusinesses can do to help achieve food security was that âfarmers and smallholders should promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, indigenous peoples and youth, because Zero Hunger can only succeed in a society that is fair and equal for all.â
With this in mind, the Graça Machel Trust commemorates World Food Day by running a series of stories that illustrate the various roles men, women and the youth can play to address the challenge of food security. We also draw our attention to what the government needs to do to complement these efforts by investing more in nutrition.
In this piece, we celebrating Spectacular Gumbira, a nutrition advocate from Zimbabwe. Below is her story:
Spectacular Gumbira’s story
Evidence-based research indicates that there is a strong link between nutrition and economic growth. It is a proven fact that lack of adequate nutrition contributes to high levels of maternal and child deaths, stunting and loss of capital that greatly affect social and political developments of any country. It is encouraging to see governments working hard to develop national policies, signing global commitments, and responding to individual nutrition challenges as well as working towards implementing action plans to address malnutrition. It is also amazing to see young people playing their part.
Spectacular Gumbira is a junior parliamentarian who is using the political platform to influence the Zimbabwean government to prioritise nutrition at national and district levels.
Spectacular became a champion through an initiative led by Save the Children and Zimbabwe Civil Society Organisations Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance (ZCSOSUNA) over a project that engages junior parliamentarians in Mashonaland Central province of Zimbabwe on its nutrition budget advocacy initiatives. Through her efforts, Spectacular, has been selected as a junior advocate for her network and subsequently represented her country as a nutrition advocate during the 2017 SUN Global Gathering in Abidjan. During this event she received a nutrition champion achievement award.
Spectacular has played a key role in advocating for the Zimbabwean government to start seeing nutrition investments as a means to economic growth. Dedicated and committed young champions will ensure that African governments reaffirm and implement their commitments to end malnutrition on the continent.
The Graça Machel Trust is the current secretariat of the Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Nutrition Network. Its members; the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) national civil society alliances (CSAs) and its partners, CARE International and SUN Civil Society Network (CSN) have launched a campaign aimed at increasing government expenditure on Nutrition by three percent in three years. As we celebrate World Food Day this 16th October, we call for young people to join the call to action for #ZeroHunger world by 2030.
Read more on the East and Southern Africa (ESA) National Budget Commitment to Nutrition – Report  here
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.