Introduction

This review is concerned with the financing arrangements for programmes that address acute malnutrition at scale through the community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM). The CMAM approach is geared towards the early detection, treatment and counselling of moderately and severely acutely malnourished children, in the community, by community agents.

In the wake of the food crises of the early 1970s and the resulting World Food Conference of 1974, a group of innovators realized that food security depends not only on crop production but also on the policies that affect an entire food system, from farm to table. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) was founded in 1975, the same year as the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, which formally created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Progress shows that stunting in children can be defeated – UNICEF

DUBLIN, 15 April 2013 – A new UNICEF report issued today offers evidence that real progress is being made in the fight against stunted growth – the hidden face of poverty for 165 million children under the age of five. The report shows that accelerated progress is both possible and necessary.

West African policy makers should prepare for future challenges from climate change as they address the pressing needs of broad-based economic growth. Maize, millet, rice, and sorghum are the major cereal crops in the region, yet yields from these crops are very low compared to the world average and even other regions in Africa. Impacts from a changing climate will challenge production systems already under pressure to produce more to feed a growing population.

Global policy highlights the importance of women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding. Yet the impact of international commitments is not felt on the ground. Most peace agreements do not address the specific concerns of women. And women are still excluded from political processes.

Ending impunity and promoting justice and reconciliation reflect core objectives underpinning the African Union. Amid renewed debate about justice and peace on the African continent, this report investigates the issue of impunity and its relationship with peace, justice, reconciliation, and healing.

By Prosper Nzekani Zena

• Notwithstanding laudable successes, incomplete or poorly conceived disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) initiatives have been key factors to high rates of conflict relapse in Africa.

• Reintegration is the most complex and critical yet least prioritized facet of DDR.

• The decision to integrate former militias into the national army is typically a political expediency that impedes military professionalism and increases the likelihood of human rights abuses and instability.

Abstract (provisional)

This summary note is an excerpt from the chapter on Sierra Leone that will appear in the peer-reviewed IFPRI monograph, West African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis.

The research, produced in collaboration with scientists from the countries studied, is based on scenarios from economic global climate change models, and takes into account estimates of each country’s economic and population growth. Each study includes a set of policy recommendations.