Enhancing Food & Nutrition Security Resilience through Artificial Intelligence Dr. Jennifer Blanke, Vice President Agriculture, Human & Social Development

Importance of Nutrition Malnutrition remains a major challenge across countries in Africa. Not just a social but also an economic imperative: good nutrition is particularly important in the first 1,000 days from conception. Children who are stunted are more likely to suffer from: impaired cognitive development low productivity & health. Malnutrition remains a worrisome challenge across countries in Africa. This is despite of the fact that nutrition is the cornerstone of human, social & economic development. Good nutrition in the first 1,000 days from conception to age two is a foundation for good health and cognitive development. This is the period when stunting happens. Children who are stunted are more likely to suffer from impaired cognitive development, affecting their ability to learn in school. Regrettably, malnourished children face a higher probability of low productivity & health, thus resulting in lower incomes. Source: International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Devastating Effects of a Changing Climate Recent Flooding in Sierra Leone: Implications for Health & Nutrition (August, 2017) Floods & Mudslides in Sierra Leone (August, 2017)

Disasters are Impacting Food & Nutrition Security Effect of Drought on Micronutrient Rich Foods Effect of Climate Resilience on Animal Based Foods

Building Grey Matter Infrastructure Feed Africa Strategy aims to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. How? Advocacy: The African leaders for Nutrition (ALN); and Investments: e.g. emergency nutrition assistance “Nutrition is not just a health & social development issue, its an investment that shapes economic growth for all African nations” -- President Adesina Investments in nutrition is an essential building block for a country’s brainpower, i.e. its “grey matter infrastructure” & subsequently its productive capacity. Within the Bank, Feed Africa Strategy has the elimination of hunger and malnutrition as its key goal.

African Leaders for Nutrition African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) initiative was launched by launched by President Adesina and former President of Ghana John Kufuor in 2016, with the aim of strengthening: The AfDB will give nutrition greater visibility through ALN, capitalizing on the Bank’s comparative advantage as a trusted partner through its: strong voice and convening power; close relationships with African Heads of State, Ministries of Finance, and key stakeholders in government. Political commitment to investments for nutrition Tracking progress towards global targets Generating evidence-based information In 2016, the African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina instigated the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN), an initiative that aims to Strengthen political commitment to investments for nutrition, Track progress towards global targets & Generate evidence based information. The ALN was launched by President Adesina and former President of Ghana John Kufuor, with the aim of strengthening high level political will & leadership for nutrition in the Africa continent. The ALN is a continental flagship through which the AfDB will ensure nutrition's greater visibility. This is realizable through the AfDB’s comparative advantage as a trusted Bank through its; Strong voice and convening power; Close relationships with African Heads of State, Ministries of Finance, & key stakeholders in government. All of which are instrumental towards mobilizing political will, leadership & investments in nutrition and grey matter infrastructure.

AfDB’s Response to ending Famine The Bank has launched “Say No to Famine”, a $1 billion effort to ensure greater food security in affected areas Requires strong partnerships with humanitarian agencies, UN bodies, development partners, corporate bodies, philanthropic organizations, companies, governments and public figures A new paradigm shift to strengthen Nutrition Early Warning Systems (NEWS) for food and nutrition insecurity is urgently required. Close collaboration with CIAT on this effort. The AfDB is using its convening power to put in place strategies to end famine in Africa Efforts presently underway towards multiple partnerships with: Humanitarian agencies, UN bodies, development partners, corporate bodies, philanthropic organizations, & public figures to collectively work on “Say No to Famine”. This is because malnutrition remains one of Africa’s biggest impediment to sustained, human development capital/Grey matter Infrastructure. A new paradigm shift to strengthen Nutrition Early Warning Systems (NEWS) for food and nutrition insecurity is urgently required. Such a paradigm shift recognises that obtaining high quality data with systematic methodologies to date, remain a grave shortcoming. This calls for collaborative approaches for nutrition information.

Developing a Framework for Climatic Resilience: Key Considerations All these efforts call for the development of a multisectoral framework for food & nutrition security resilience for sustainable development.

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