GAMBIA: Malnutrition high among children

Photo: IRIN

ABIDJAN, 4 December 2002 (IRIN) - A survey in The Gambia in October found that acute malnutrition among children aged 6-59 months was 11.2 percent, which was above the 10 percent ceiling used in African countries to indicate an alarming situation, the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme said on Tuesday. "Boys seem to be more malnourished than girls, at 12.5 and 9.8 percent respectively. The age group most affected by acute malnutrition is the group of children in the weaning period - children between 12-23 months old. For this group the acute malnutrition is 18 percent...chronic malnutrition (stunting) is 16.2 percent," a FAO/WFP report said. Morbidity, it added, was very high and over 50 percent of the children had suffered from malaria in the two weeks before the study. "There seems to be an association between morbidity and acute malnutrition. Acute malnutrition among children who had been ill over the last two weeks is equal to 14.3 percent compared to 5.4 percent for children who had not been ill," the report said. The report: "FAO/WFP: Crop and food supply assessment to mission to The Gambia", said following erratic rainfall in most parts of The Gambia at the beginning of the 2002/03 cropping season, the government anticipated a massive crop failure which would result in food shortages, seed unavailability for the next planting season and high mortality for livestock. "The first rains came in May, but were not sufficient for planting, which was delayed by 20 days. A dry spell from mid-July to August affected agricultural activities nationwide. Most early planted crops were lost, particularly in highlands. Early millet, maize, rice and groundnut performed very poorly countrywide," the report said. It estimated the 2002/03 cereal production at 149,400 tons, compared to 200,000 tons in 2001/02 and a five year average of 150,400 tons. The estimated cereal crop is 25 percent lower than last year and 1 percent below the average of the last five years. Already a dramatic increase of the millet prices had occurred in recent months with retail prices jumping by 245 percent from May to mid-October, FAO said. The Gambia is predominantly agricultural and about 80 percent of its population are farmers who contribute 33 percent of GDP. Tourism is the main foreign exchange earner, providing a livelihood for the coastal population. However the economy suffered a setback following political instability in 1994, sanctions by donors and decline in tourism. Full report