Combating Malnutrition in Africa Through Diversification of the Food System

各种形式的营养不良，包括饥饿、微量营养素缺乏和营养不均衡造成的非传染性疾病，威胁着非洲的粮食安全。“非洲健康饮食”项目的核心假设是，粮食系统的多样化有助于消除各种形式的营养不良，同时尽量减少其对环境的影响。为此，我们将监测代表不同地区的八个非洲国家的膳食多样性，并制定针对目标群体的指标来衡量食品系统的多样性及其健康结果。该项目的一个面向生产的群组将探讨环境上可持续的备选办法，以实现粮食生产的多样化，具体解决为目标人口确定的营养需求。这包括开发新的和生物强化的作物品种，利用具有高营养价值的孤儿作物，以及种植制度和食品加工技术的多样化。我们将把这些努力与一个以消费为导向的集群联系起来，探索消费者接受、食品安全和饮食多样化选择对营养健康的影响。通过多样化促进健康饮食同时促进环境健康的最佳解决方案将通过八个非洲国家的粮食系统利益攸关方网络得到推广。HealthyDiets4Africa还将制定宣传和政策战略，以最大限度地扩大多样化粮食系统的影响。因此，该项目将通过采取多样化战略，同时减少粮食生产对环境的压力，帮助发展安全、健康和负担得起的饮食。

Various forms of malnutrition, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases caused by unbalanced nutrition, threaten food security in Africa. The project HealthyDiest4Africa is based on the central hypothesis that diversification of the food system helps to combat all forms of malnutrition while minimizing its environmental footprint. To this aim, we will monitor dietary diversity in eight African countries representing different regions, and develop target group-specific metrics to measure the diversity of the food system and its health outcomes. A production-oriented cluster of the project will explore environmentally sustainable options to diversity food production that specifically address the nutritional requirements identified for the target populations. This includes the development of novel and biofortified crop varieties, utilization of orphan crops with high nutritional value, and diversification of cropping systems and food processing technology. We will link these efforts with a consumption-oriented cluster exploring the consumer acceptance, food safety, and nutritional health effects of diet diversification options. The best solutions that contribute to healthy diets via diversification while also promoting environmental health will be up-scaled via a network of food system stakeholders in eight African countries. HealthyDiets4Africa will also devise communication and policy strategies to maximize outreach and impact of diversified food systems. Thereby the project will help to develop safe, healthy and affordable diets by adopting a diversification strategy that will simultaneously reduce the pressure of food production on the environment.