Institutional and policy bottlenecks to IPM.

This paper summarises institutional and policy bottlenecks to IPM in Africa. Agricultural policy in Africa generally prioritises production and productivity above environmental sustainability, so the use of synthetic pesticides for controlling pests is encouraged. Funding for research in IPM is limited, and extension systems struggle to provide the level of farmer support that adoption of IPM often needs. Improved research and extension policies could facilitate uptake of IPM. Public and private food-safety standards can incentivise adoption, but currently this is mainly in production for export. Pesticide and other input regulatory systems unintentionally constrain adoption of IPM, through expensive registration procedures, weak compliance monitoring and limited regional harmonisation. IPM must be seen as a key element of food-system transformation.

Emerging Early Actions to Bend the Curve in Sub-Saharan Africa's Nutrition Transition.

BACKGROUND: Sub-Saharan Africa is the last region to undergo a nutrition transition and can still avoid its adverse health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The article explores emerging responses to "bend the curve" in sub-Saharan Africa's nutrition transition to steer public health outcomes onto a healthier trajectory. METHODS: Early responses in 3 countries at different stages of food system transformation are examined: South Africa-advanced, Ghana-intermediate, and Uganda-early. By comparing these with international experience, actions are proposed to influence nutrition and public health trajectories as Africa's food systems undergo rapid structural change. RESULTS: Arising from rapid urbanization and diet change, major public health problems associated with overweight are taking place, particularly in South Africa and among adult women. However, public health responses are generally tepid in sub-Saharan Africa. Only in South Africa have policy makers instituted extensive actions to combat overweight and associated noncommunicable diseases through regulation, education, and public health programs. Elsewhere, in countries in the early and middle stages of transition, public health systems continue to focus their limited resources primarily on undernutrition. Related pressures on the supply side of Africa's food systems are emerging that also need to be addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Three types of intervention appear most feasible: maternal and child health programs to simultaneously address short-term undernutrition problems while at the same time helping to reduce future tendencies toward overweigh; regulatory and fiscal actions to limit access to unhealthy foods; and modernization of Africa's agrifood food system through job skills training, marketing reforms, and food industry entrepreneurship.