Mozambique loses $1.6b due to chronic malnutrition – FAO

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Mozambique loses $1.6b due to chronic malnutrition – FAO

1:37 CAT | 17 Oct 2018

File photo: FAO

Mozambique loses around $1.6 billion annually due to chronic malnutrition, a figure which is more than 11 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.“In the last 10 years, Mozambique has taken significant steps to reduce the prevalence of the food insecure population from 50% to 24%. However, there have been large losses in the economy of which $1.6 billion is due to malnutrition”, FAO the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a media statement seen by APA.

The exact figure of Mozambicans going hungry is still unknown, but data from humanitarian agencies point to 24 percent of the country´s 28.8 million inhabitants.

According to FAO, poorly fed children rob Africa of up to 16 percent of its potential growth, making investment in programmes to end malnutrition as critical to the continent’s future as building bridges and roads.

This information came out on Monday in Maputo on the eve of World Food Day.

Source: APA