DILI, 25 august 2021 (TATOLI) – The Representative of the World Food Program in Timor-Leste (WFP-TL), Dageng Liu informed that 63 to 85 percent of the households in Timor-Leste cannot afford to follow healthy diet.
Liu said that poor diet is a major root cause of malnutrition in all its forms (undernutrition and overnutrition) due to the high cost of nutritious food and healthy diets (protein-rich meat and dairy products, fruits, vegetables) which is significantly higher than an energy sufficient diet (mainly the staple cereal and root foods).
“In Timor-Leste, the daily cost of the nutritious diet is US$5.68, while the energy only diet is US$1.64, three times more expensive than energy diets. In addition, the monthly cost of energy only diet varies between US$32-60, while, nutritious diets between US$158-211 for a family of five,” said Liu.
He stressed that only 15 to 37 percent of the households in Timor-Leste can afford nutritious diets that meet the protein and micronutrient requirements. On other hand, about 63 to 85% of households cannot afford healthy diets.
“This year is a particular year because the UN Secretary-General calls for the Food Systems Summit, to be held during the UN General Assembly in New York on September 23, setting the stage for global food systems transformation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” Liu told TATOLI recently, at his office, at UN Compound in Dili.
“We are very proud to see the engagement and strong commitment of the Government of Timor-Leste in this whole food system summit. Timor-Leste needs to learn a lot from the world, but equally, it also has a lot to share with the rest of the world.”
To promote healthy diets and nutritious food in the country, on august 9, Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak launched a National Nutrition Award Program intending to promote the best international practices, and the most advanced methods to be adapted in Timor-Leste. It also aimed to achieve the great national goal of eradicating hunger and malnutrition, foreseen in the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) and the commitments made by the Country in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
In the past 10 years, the national malnutrition rates had been dropped by 10 percent. In 2010 malnutrition affected 58% of the population and in 2020 it still affected 48% of the population, especially the most deprived, vulnerable, and disadvantaged groups.
Liu informed that there are up to 811 million people in the world facing hunger in 2020 according to a new report of the State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), in 2021.
He said the frequent climate extremes (calamity) and economic slowdowns and downturns impacted by Covid-19 are among the key drivers contributing to global hunger, including Timor-Leste.
Liu affirmed that according to the preliminary results of the Timor Leste Food and Nutrition Survey 2020 shows that the trend of improvement in terms of nutritional status of children below 5 years, with a reduction in stunting from 50 % to 47%, wasting from 11% to 9%, underweight from 38% to 32%. Despite the improvement, the stunting rate remains among the highest in the World and South East Asia.
The former President of the Republic, and the Nobel Peace Laureate José Ramos-Horta said that improving nutrition contributes to productivity, economic development, poverty reduction, boosting intellectual and the quality of education, social development, and cutting the health care costs.
“In the past 20 years, the history shows that we have made some progress on several sectors, but we haven’t made significant progress on food security and nutrition. It means that finding solutions for the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) was one of the most important things to do,” said Horta.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
