A 2020 analysis by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) highlights that majority of Batswana above the international poverty line of $1.90 purchasing power parity (PPP) per person per day cannot afford a healthy or nutritious diet. The analysis which was done pre-Covid settles the fact that the problem of poor nutrition in Botswana is essentially on account of the unaffordability of good diets, and not on account of lack of information on nutrition.
The 2020 State of Food Security and nutrition in the World states that 64.5 percent of Batswana cannot afford a healthy diet. Furthermore the report highlights that 32.8 percent of household income is channelled towards food expenditure. And while Covid-19 pandemic may be far from over, it is increasingly becoming clearer that the pandemic is expected to pose nutritional risks to Botswana in the short and long term. Prior to the pandemic, Botswana was already struggling with a double burden of malnutrition extremes. Various global fora such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and SADC Secretariat’s Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis (RVAA) Programme have it on good record that the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) in Botswana is pegged at 22.5%.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health, a healthy diet “helps to protect against malnutrition in all its forms, as well as non-communicable diseases (NCDs)”. It also provides the body with essential nutrition such as fluids, macronutrients, micronutrients, and adequate calories and helps to improve overall health.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Dietician, Lebogang Kopela said there is now a high possibility that child growth and cognitive development may be compromised at household level in Botswana.
“There is high chance that macro and micronutrient deficiencies are likely to take place. An increase in the price of staple foods can lead to a substantial reduction in energy intake. Furthermore the prevalence of stunting, underweight and other forms of malnutrition may rise, slowing human development and economic growth,” she says.
She also says an increase in extreme poverty owing to rising food prices is very much likely to lead to higher malnutrition because poorer people eat less nutritious and healthy food.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) which provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries says high food prices could help explain why countries such as Botswana continue to struggle with a double burden of malnutrition extremes.
The report states in clear cut terms that most people in developing do not only have low income, but also live in poor food systems where their money cannot buy them the healthy and nutritious food they really want.
Malnutrition is a condition that results from eating a diet which does not supply a healthy amount of calories, protein and micronutrients. This includes diets that have too little nutrients or so many that the diet causes health problems. Malnutrition also covers issues such as under-nutrition, which includes wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low height-for-age) and underweight (low weight-for-age).
In their study IFPRI state that the majority of non-cereal foods and nutritious foods is quite expensive in low income countries. Research done prior to this report mainly focused on the link between nutritious food prices and obesity, however this research is the first to study the link between food prices and under-nutrition. IFPRI compared more than 657 food products using the World Bank’s International Comparison Program (ICP). ICP is a worldwide initiative under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission and is the main statistical resource for surveying prices of highly standardised (comparable) goods and services that are widely consumed across a region or globally.
Kopela notes that there is need for Botswana to start looking into nutrition-sensitive agriculture where emphasis is placed on agricultural investment in nutrient-dense foods rather than staple foods. “This will help the citizens to have access to affordable nutritious foods,” she says.
Kopela also says the rising food prices plus the covid-19 pandemic will result in most households changing their eating or dietary patterns by buying generic store brands. Generic store brands usually do not use quality ingredients.
“Poor quality food means that the consumer in ingesting food which has poor nutritive value,” says Kopela, cautioning that rising food prices pose a serious threat to food security at both household and country level.
With progress in reducing malnutrition in Botswana having stalled, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 of ending hunger and malnutrition and to ensure nutritious food for all by 2030 seems a tall order. WHO defines malnutrition as deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions. One is ‘under-nutrition’—which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals). The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer).
