Luanda — The Republic of Angola recently received USD $100,000 from the country of Brazil to the UN Infant and Children Education Fund (UNICEF) to assist children and women in situations of food shortages. Brazil is joining the UNICEF in providing for initiatives of reinforcement of food and nutritional security in Angola, particularly in drought hit regions covering ten of the country's 18 provinces.
With the Brazil's funds, UNICEF will reinforce the Angolan Government initiatives to overcome the challenges of nature, thus ensuring food security, through prevention and treatment of malnutrition, supply of drinking water for affected children and their families in the provinces of Zaire, Bié, Kwanza Sul and Huíla.
Currently, some 10% of Angola's population are subject to food insecurity, as outlined in the OCHA (Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair of the United Nations) diagram below. According to the latest WHO data published in April 2011, malnutrition deaths in Angola reached 9,095 or 4.35% of total deaths; one of the highest death rates for this cause worldwide.
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”. Commonly, the concept of food security is defined as including both physical and economic access to food that meets people's dietary needs as well as their food preferences.
Food security is built on three pillars:
- Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis;
- Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritions diet;
- Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation. (AllAfrica.com, OCHA
