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Introduction
Work on food security and economic and social wellbeing at community level in Zimbabwe needs to be framed within deeper structural causes of poverty and deepening social deficits, even while shorter term mitigatory responses are implemented. This is not unique to Zimbabwe. Within the region increasing undernutrition, slowing and some cases reversing progress on delivery on the Millenium Development Goals for nutrition, are linked to falling household and national food production and availability, as the continent has changed from being a net exporter to a net importer of agricultural products since 1980 (FAO 2002).
Nutrition and the MDG Goals
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Malnutrition erodes human capital, reduces resilience to shocks and reduces productivity (impaired physical and mental capacity).
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Malnutrition reduces mental capacity. Malnourished children are less likely to enroll in school, or more likely to enroll later. Current hunger and malnutrition reduces school performance.
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Better-nourished girls are more likely to stay in school and to have more control over future choices.
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Malnutrition is directly or indirectly associated with more than 60% of all child mortality. Malnutrition is the main contributor to disease in the developing world.
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Maternal health is compromised by an anti-female bias in the allocation of food, health and care. Malnutrition is associated with most major risk factors for maternal mortality.
Goal 6: Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Malnutrition hastens onset of AIDS among those who are HIV-positive. Malnutrition weakens immunity to certain infectious diseases and contributes to their increased severity.
(Source: ACC/SCN, 2004 in Chopra 2004)
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