AFRICA REGION

1
AFRICA REGION

• Achi Atsain
• (Chair)

2
ISSUES

• Enhance access to markets and design policies to
  reduce all forms of risks
• Balanced social/economic investments, e.g. health
  and education vs. roads and agriculture
• In developed world, major causes of death are
  cardiovascular (high blood pressure, high
  cholesterol)

3
ISSUES (contd)

• Developing countries have double disease burden,
  i.e. both cardiovascular, but most important
  infections and malnutrition related
• Focus on building capacity of young people and
  farmers
• Malnutrition and poverty are causal and effect of
  each other

4
ISSUES (contd)

• Optimal budgetary allocation between social
  services (health education) and growth related
  (e.g., agriculture) still a challenge for most
  African countries
• No special problem with Africa proposed
  solutions not adequately implemented
• Issues of conflict and governance not well
  discussed

5
ISSUES (contd)

• African countries need to be allowed room to
  design and implement own policies and diversity
  partners based on perceived mutual benefits.

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POLICIES / MECHANISMS

• Improve the policy environment
• Enhance public-private sector partnerships
• Improve infrastructure (social and growth
  related)
• Involve communities in all interventions they
  are cheaper and better
• Train African women and ill-health and
  malnutrition will be reduced

7
POLICIES / MECHANISMS(contd)

• Foster innovation in value chain and equitable
  access to knowledge
• Aim at better integration and participatory
  curriculum development in education
• Focus on increasing the productivity of
  agricultural labor (the most abundant resource in
  Africa
• Aim at better integration of production and
  marketing
• Train your people and build roads as a jump start