Johannesburg — AllAfrica's Nontobeko Mlambo spoke with Dr Jane Battersby, an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town's African Centre for Cities, on the need to address malnutrition in all its forms by tackling injustices in food and health systems.

This year the focus of the report is inequity with specific focus on the food system and universal health coverage.

The solutions to child malnutrition are to be found in food and trade policy, but also in concerted, targeted poverty alleviation measures and targeted nutrition interventions.

The Global Nutrition Report argues that in terms of both health and systemic resilience, there is a need for food systems to "go beyond a narrow focus on energy intake; reduce the dominance of cereal production (maize, rice and wheat); and increase the availability of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, nuts and whole grains".

Malnutrition during the COVID-19 Crisis

What is showing up from the work that was in the report is how vulnerable food systems have already been.