Botswana lags behind in nutrition development
Botswana has shown limited progress towards achieving the diet-related, non-communicable disease (NCD) targets.
The country has shown no progress towards achieving the target for obesity, with an estimated 32.1 percent of adult women aged 18 years and over, and 9.7 percent of adult men living with obesity. Botswana’s obesity prevalence is higher than the regional average of 20.7 percent for women and 9.2 percent for men. At the same time, diabetes is estimated to affect 10.6 percent of adult women and 8.8 percent of adult men.
It is against this backdrop that stakeholders such as UNICEF have launched initiatives geared at bolstering efforts in assimilating key measures to ensure access to good nutrition by most Batswana into the national development agenda.
This is also expected to encourage critical sectors such as agriculture and health to also play a role in combating the spread of NCDs and creating healthy food systems that ensure that people have access to clean water, fresh fruit and vegetables for optimal health and longevity. Botswana is still faced with a few challenges relating to nutrition development mostly due to poor investments in cultivation and supply chains, which calls for collaborative efforts and the development of key systems to bolster production and offer access to quality health programmes. Acting United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Botswana representative, Alexander Illmer said that access to affordable, healthy and nutritious food remains a key challenge that should be addressed urgently. Illmer was speaking at the launch of the 13th meeting of the Africa Taskforce for Food and Nutrition Development Session and also the launch of the Year of Nutrition in Gaborone this past Saturday.
“There is need for most people to access an affordable and safe diet. There is also a need for practices and systems that support optimal nutritional growth and development,” she said. She further called for the improvement of the schools feeding programme and sexual protection systems, in order to protect the health and livelihoods of young people.