Africa's Quiet Crisis Finds a Champion in Demeke Mekonnen

Dec 21 , 2024
By Desalegn T. Zegeye (MD)

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The launch of the Yadam Foundation last week, an initiative by former Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, should serve as a notable mark to turn in the fight against childhood stunting in Africa. By squarely addressing one of the continent’s most daunting health and development impediments, the effort heralds a fresh level of political will around a problem that has dogged generations.

The Foundation's focus on stunting, the impairment of growth in children caused by chronic malnutrition, repeated infections, and a lack of adequate stimulation in early life, deserves support. Stunting reduces cognitive and physical capacities, limits educational attainment, and deprives future productivity. It often leads to an elevated risk of chronic diseases in adulthood. Such enduring damage can lock communities into an unyielding cycle of poverty and ill health that holds back the broader economy.

Across Africa, millions of children are affected by stunting, and the continent has some of the highest rates globally. In Ethiopia alone, one-third of children under the age of five are stunted. For these children, the consequences do not end with shorter stature. This has long been clear in policy briefs and health reports, but leadership capable of galvanising large-scale response has been less common.

The arrival of Demeke at the helm of the Yadam Foundation could change this dynamic. His name recognition and influence bring mainstream attention and resources to a problem that, for many, still rests in technical jargon and under-the-radar public health advocacy. He has positioned the Foundation not as a lone actor, but as a partner supporting a suite of established national efforts, including the Sekota Declaration, which aims to end child undernutrition. The food and nutrition strategy, urban agriculture programs, and the Bounty of Basket initiative have allied to stitch these various undertakings into a coherent response that targets to improve nutrition security and health outcomes.

The urgency of dealing with stunting should not be understated.

Experts agree that the critical period for preventing it lies in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to age two. This window is narrow but crucial, as it shapes the blueprint for lifelong development. When a child’s growth is stunted in these early stages, the damage to cognitive and physical development is largely irreversible. Addressing stunting during this delicate period can stop lasting harm and dramatically alter life trajectories.

The Yadam Foundation’s approach is based on this principle, ensuring that children receive enough calories and the right mix of nutrients, care, and stimulation to thrive.

Such a broad task demands multiple lines of effort. Direct nutrition interventions are critical, including promoting exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, improving complementary feeding practices, ensuring micronutrient supplementation, and managing acute malnutrition. But stunting is not simply about a product of too few calories or nutrients. Its underlying causes often involve a wider nexus of factors like poor access to clean water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.

Food security is tied to agricultural practices and environmental stewardship. Households need stable incomes, and mothers require education and maternal care to ensure they pass on better health prospects to their children. Interventions should extend beyond the clinic to homes, farms, schools, and markets.

The Yadam Foundation’s path forward involves a careful and sustained approach. Attempting to fix everything all at once may dilute efforts and waste resources. Instead, the Foundation will focus on key areas based on urgency, resources, and existing infrastructure. By segmenting populations and regions according to their specific needs, this stepwise strategy could have a better chance of delivering measurable improvements, building community trust, and demonstrating early wins that can attract further support.

However, the approach should remain grounded in each area's cultural, economic, and social context. That might mean creating community-based platforms that do more than distribute supplements. They might serve as centres for nutrition education, cooking demonstrations, or even forums where families can learn about sanitation and hygiene practices that cut the cycle of infection and malnutrition.

Data and evidence-based decision-making are essential. Without accurate and timely data, even the best-intentioned interventions can miss their mark, funnelling resources into areas where they are less needed or failing to detect regions in crisis. Strong data systems can ensure that disparities are addressed as they emerge, allowing real-time course corrections that large-scale public health initiatives require. Tracking progress will help identify what works and what does not, ensuring that successes can be replicated and failures adjusted swiftly.

Political will and stable governance are also key. The former Deputy Prime Minister's visible presence and personal commitment have the potential to attract political support, mobilise funding, and keep nutrition high on the public agenda. The Yadam Foundation can be a powerful advocate for aligning policies across different sectors. It can press for investments in agriculture that yield nutrient-rich crops, infrastructure that provides clean water, and programs that educate mothers and caregivers.

No single group can solve stunting alone. It requires a comprehensive, whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort in which international organisations lend expertise and resources, civil society engages communities at the grassroots, and the private sector contributes through product innovation and investment.

For the millions of children who risk falling behind before their lives truly begin, the Yadam Foundation’s establishment is a reminder that this battle need not be fought in the shadows. The immediate goal is to break the chain of stunting, ensuring that the next generation of Africans grows into their full physical and cognitive potential. The broader outcome, if successful, will be a more productive workforce, stronger economies, and families no longer trapped in an intergenerational loop of undernutrition.

This effort may not yield headlines as dramatic as those of wars or natural disasters. Yet, the impact could profoundly affect human capital, economic vitality, and long-term prosperity.

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PUBLISHED ON Dec 21,2024 [ VOL 25 , NO 1286]

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