PANEL 8.6 THE STATE OF AFRICAN NUTRITION DATA FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND LEARNING
CARL LACHAT, JOYCE KINABO, EUNICE NAGO, ANNAMARIE KRUGER, AND PATRICK KOLSTEREN D
ecades of investment and capacity build- ing in nutrition research in Africa have produced an active nutrition research commu- nity. The research output of the continent is considerable and growing steadily (Lachat et al. 2014). Recent studies and events, however, have highlighted areas where organization of nutrition research in Africa can be improved: • The nutrition research agenda, driven largely by research funders and academ- ics in high-income countries, needs to be refocused toward African priorities (Hold- sworth et al. 2014; van Royen et al. 2013).
• There are too few evaluations of interven- tions (Lachat et al. 2014).
• Research on how to create enabling envi- ronments that prevent malnutrition is lacking (Masset et al. 2012).
• The availability of data produced by researchers and others such as nongov- ernmental organizations, UN agencies, and governments is highly variable. It could be less scattered and used more effectively (Chalmers et al. 2014). Recent economic growth in Africa offers a window of opportunity to build an African research system that is “fit for purpose” to
deliver answers to African decisionmakers about how to tackle the nutritional chal- lenges of tomorrow. Such a research system should hold the different actors in this system accountable in the following ways: • Those that produce information (academ- ics from Africa, partners from high-income countries, government and development agencies that collect data) must produce the best information using the highest standards. Knowledge and data should be shared and made as accessible as possible.
• Research funders need to maximize the uptake of evidence in programs and pol- icies in Africa. This will require increased African ownership of research. Academics (predominantly from Northern America and Europe) need to establish equitable partnerships with African researchers (Chu et al. 2014), and research funders need to align with African-identified research priorities (Lachat et al. 2014). It would be helpful to develop a code of conduct, define ethical considerations in setting the research agenda, and establish data reg- istries. National research councils can play
a key role in connecting researchers with funders and users.
• Users of nutrition research need to artic- ulate clear research needs. A transparent process should be developed to systemat- ically define research priorities. Initiatives such as the recently created African nutri- tion knowledge network (EVIDENT) are a first step in that direction. Funders should subscribe to the resulting priorities, and the data generated should be registered in an open source data depository to support sharing.
A data revolution is taking place in devel- opment (United Nations 2013a), and the Afri- can nutrition community can play a leading role. Data repositories and interoperable data systems for nutrition data are needed to host, curate, and repurpose nutrition data in Africa. Stakeholders in nutrition research in Africa need to capitalize on the commitment of research funders and international organiza- tions to open access data. Making data acces- sible is just a first step. More work is needed to turn this information into knowledge for better nutrition policies and actions.
DATA GAPS 1. Many N4G commitments are vague, and progress updates are often vague as well. 2. N4G data are scattered, and collecting them has a high transactions cost.
3. There are not enough country-driven and country-owned nutrition data and research, and this gap runs the risk of weakening nutri- tion accountability.
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GLOBAL NUTRITION REPORT 2014
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