The UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition welcomes this public consultation and would like to give the following feedback on the Zero Draft of the Report on Water and Food Security
General comments:
Terminology in the title: Title should mention nutrition, and not imply that this is adequately included in the term food security
Without water there are no crops. To alleviate hunger, people must first have access to ample supplies of water in order to grow crops year round for food security. Additionally, diarrheal diseases, common in people who are forced to drink contaminated water, diminish the nutritional benefits of the food they actually eat. According to UNICEF, malnourishment affects a child’s ability to learn and actively participate in school. Food deprivation provides a daily stress on children and stunts both their emotional and physical development (FAO).
Specific comments on:
1. The scope of the topic of water and food security is very broad. Do you think that the V0 draft has adequately charted the diversity of the linkages between water and food security and nutrition? Is there important evidence or aspects that the present draft has failed to cover?
We appreciate the comprehensiveness of the report addressing water in terms of drinking water, resource for sustainable food and livestock production, and water as essential element of the ecosystem.
Regarding the linkage of water with nutrition security, the bi-directional linkage between water and sanitation with nutrition should be highlighted:
On one side increased access to safe water at household and community level leads to reduction of stunting in children under five years: In calculating the relative contribution of various factors to the progressive decline in child stunting between 1970 and 2010, Smith and Haddad (2014) estimated that increased access to safe water accounted for 25 % of the change. For example, 2010, Lim et al. (2012) attributed roughly 8 million DALYs to unimproved water globally. The risks to nutrition derive from water-borne diseases, microbial contaminants that provoke enteric disfunction, diarrhoea, and a lack of cleanliness that itself increases food safety risks and lack of hygiene-related nutritional compromise. Separately, Smith and Haddad (2014) calculated that roughly 14% of the total fall in stunting between 1970 and 2010 resulted from improved sanitation.
On the other side, improved nutritional status of the household members and populations, leads indirectly to improved water and sanitation through increased demand. As all forms of nutrition improve, which leads to the associated benefits of demand for higher food quality, education, preventative health-seeking behaviours, and a voice in development, there is greater household exposure to, and practice of, appropriate hand-washing practices, food and personal hygiene, and sanitation. This results in demand for clean water and effective personalized sanitation. As poverty falls, consumers (urban and rural) understand and afford the benefits of private access to hygienic resources and facilities. (UNSCN 2014)
http://www.unscn.org/files/Publications/Briefs_on_Nutrition/Final_Nutrition%20and_the_SDGs.pdf
We recommend referring to the WHO stunting reduction policy brief, http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/globaltargets_stunting_policybrief.pdf , which also contains additional case studies on the relationship between water and sanitation and stunting reduction.
We also like to refer to the WHA Global nutrition targets, http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/nutrition_globaltargets2025/en/
and in particular to the stunting reduction target which can only be achieve through a Multisectoral approach of nutrition-sensitive actions. These include adequate access to and use of clean water and sanitation.-
Therefore, we fully support the Recommendation 1, and have the following additional comments on this recommendation 1:
In order to adequately recognize the role of clean water and sanitation in reducing malnutrition and enhancing human well-being, this recommendation should include, under the responsibilities of States, international donors, UN and NGOs, one bullet point on monitoring. Such as
· Monitor the proportion of population with access to and use of safely managed drinking water services, as well as the proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services, in a gender and other inequalities disaggregated manner. These two indicators are supported by the UN agencies and will be presented to the WHO EB to complement the 6 global nutrition targets.
Improved nutrition outcome like reduction in childhood stunting is an important indicator for successful improvement in water and sanitation. Therefore, we recommend
· including stunting reduction as outcome indicator to the monitoring of access to and use of clean drinking water and sanitation services, in alignment with the WHA recommended global target on stunting reduction.
In addition, we would like to see reference not only to the poor, but also to other vulnerable population groups such as elder persons, displaced populations etc.
2. Water use in food processing and Recommendation 5
The importance of water quality in the preparation of food for infant and young child needs to be highlighted.
Poor sanitation poses more of a risk to those who are particularly vulnerable, such as the non-breastfed infant and young child. Complementary foods and breast milk substitutes are more likely to be contaminated in areas where water supply, sanitation, and hygiene are lacking. Furthermore, families living under these conditions often have fewer economic resources and thus are less apt to prepare foods freshly for each meal, adequately reheat previously prepared foods, or store foods under refrigeration. Consequently, mixed-fed and weaned infants living in poor sanitary conditions face considerably higher exposure to foodborne pathogens than similarly fed infants in less contaminated environments. Exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of live as recommended by the WHO, provides protection to infants and is particularly important for those living in highly contaminated environments.
With this regard we would like to emphasise the importance of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/9241541601.pdf?ua=1)
The aim of the code is to contribute to ensure the proper use of breast-milk substitutes, when these are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution. The environmental factors like access to and use of clean water is an essential element. There is a role for Governments, UN agencies, NGOs, consumer groups and industry. We would like to emphasize, considering that manufacturers and distributors of breast-milk substitutes have an important and constructive role to play in relation to infant feeding, and in the promotion of the aim of this Code and its proposer implementation. We propose to add this to the recommendation 5, under the private sector.
With kind regards
UNSCN Secretariat Team
UNSCN SecretariatMarzella Wüstefeld