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A new report shows that no country in Africa will meet goals set to end childhood malnutrition by the year 2030. That target was set by the United Nations in 2015 as a Sustainable Development Goal. The UN adopted a set of goals, "to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda". The new report is published in the journal Nature. It identifies poor child nutrition and low levels of education across 51 African countries. These were key factors in countries battling to provide children with sufficient food. Researcher Simon Hay said the goal of ending childhood malnutrition was always an "aspirational" target. He said: "This aspiration is very, very far away."

There was some good news in the report. It highlighted the fact that many African nations, including Ghana and Nigeria, have shown signs of improvement in childhood development since the year 2000. However, it is a different story for countries like Chad, Central African Republic and Eritrea. The report indicates that malnutrition remained "persistently high" in 14 countries between Senegal in the west and Somalia in the east. Many of these countries have experienced war, famine and mass migration, all of which have put massive strains on health and agriculture. One researcher said considerable investment was needed in health and infrastructure in order to address "serious inequalities".

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Malnutrition goals in Africa 'very far away'

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A new report shows that no country in Africa will meet goals set to end childhood malnutrition by the year 2030. That target was set by the United Nations in 2015 as a Sustainable Development Goal. The UN adopted a set of goals, "to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda".

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About 224 million people are suffering from malnutrition in Africa as effects of climate change and conflicts bite.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday.

According to Bukar Tijani, FAO's Assistant Director General for Africa, the situation was a "cause of concern" as the continent's population was expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2030.

He was speaking on Monday at a regional conference on Africa in Sudan's capital Khartoum.

"Under-nourishment appears to have increased from about 21 percent to nearly 23 percent between 2015 and 2016," he added.

The rise in malnutrition and food insecurity was related to climate changes and natural disasters he told reporters on the sidelines of the forum.

Tijani singled out Somalia ,South Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR), which he said conflicts in these countries further exacerbated food insecurity.

On a positive note, Tijani said Africa's economy was improving and its food and agriculture market was estimated to reach one trillion dollars by 2030.

Hundreds of delegates from across Africa will be attending the five-day conference in Khartoum to discuss efforts to eradicate hunger and food insecurity in Africa.

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Millions of Africans suffering from malnutrition as effects of climate change and conflicts bite | Africanews

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About 224 million people are suffering from malnutrition in Africa as effects of climate change and conflicts bite. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday. According to Bukar Tijani, FAO's Assistant Director General for Africa, the situation was a "cause of concern" as the continent's population was expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2030.

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Exceptionally detailed maps of child growth and education across Africa suggest that no single country is set to end childhood malnutrition by 2030.

That target was set by the UN as a Sustainable Development Goal.

However, the new maps, which give detail to the level of an individual village, show that almost every nation has at least one region where children's health is improving.

They are published in Nature.

The two studies have mapped child growth rates and educational attainment for women of reproductive age - tracking progress in both in 51 countries between 2000 and 2015. The scientists targeted these two factors in particular because they are important predictors of child mortality.

"Together, these are very useful indicators of where populations are doing well and where they're being left behind," explained Prof Simon Hay, a global health researcher from the University of Washington in the US.

Prof Hay and his team pieced together data from community-level surveys and produced a series of 5km by 5km scale maps, showing child growth and educational attainment across Africa over the 15-year span of the study.

'Stark disparities'

This revealed that most African countries, especially much of sub-Saharan Africa and eastern and southern regions, show improvement in malnutrition.

They also showed large disparities within individual countries. But by mapping these in such detail, scientists say policymakers will have the evidence to direct their resources.

Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former secretary general of the UN, endorsed this aim in an article he wrote in response to the maps' publication. "Without good data," he wrote, "we're flying blind. If you can't see it, you can't solve it."

While highlighting what he called "stark disparities" in progress, particularly in conflict-affected areas, Mr Annan said the progress in Africa that these maps painted was "astonishing".

"Especially for me," he said, "an African accustomed to international headlines depicting a continent consumed by war, famine and hunger. The Africa shown in these maps tells a different story - one of measurable, steady progress on issues long thought intractable.

"[But] there are villages where all children are too short for their age. Across most of the Sahel, a semi-arid swath of land from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, high rates of stunting persist, with no hint of improvement.

"Such fine-grained insight brings tremendous responsibility to act."

Lessons to learn

Progress in Africa has never before been mapped in this level of detail and Prof Hay said that making the data openly available and providing "the best information we can" would help to direct resources towards the populations most in need.

"We can look at those communities that are doing particularly well and ask if there are lessons we can learn and apply elsewhere," he told BBC News.

In a study that is considered to have been the birth of modern epidemiology in the 19th Century, the London physician John Snow mapped cholera cases in London - revealing in a world-changing map how cases in the city were clustered around one water pump in Broad Street. This led to the revelation that the disease was spread through contaminated water.

Mr Annan concluded that these maps could be as powerful in the long battle against hunger.

"They are another tool in our arsenal," he said. "Alone, they won't eradicate malnutrition but they will enable Africa's leaders to act strategically."

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Africa 'set to miss malnutrition target'

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Exceptionally detailed maps of child growth and education across Africa suggest that no single country is set to end childhood malnutrition by 2030. That target was set by the UN as a Sustainable Development Goal. However, the new maps, which give detail to the level of an individual village, show that almost every nation has at least one region where children's health is improving.

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Hunger, malnutrition threaten Africa's economic gains, UN development agency warns

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Many people of African countries sufferd from the famine,it will be our long-term goals to solve this problem.

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Because of the poverty,many children of African countries have to endure the hunger.And this circumstance remaind persistently high.

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Many African countries are struggling to feed children to inhibit malnutrition .It should be regarded as an important issue and we should think out the ways of solution.

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The UN is aim for improving the problem of poverty,protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.

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African countries have many problems of malnutrition. A researcher said the goal of ending childhood malnutrition was a hopeful target but it hard to improve.

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Malnutrition goals in Africa 'very far away'

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Malnutrition goals in Africa 'very far away'