Sustainable nutrition research for Africa in the years to come

The SUNRAY (Sustainable Nutrition Research for Africa in the Years to come) project will produce a new, sustainable nutrition research agenda for sub-Saharan Africa where malnutrition rates remain high: only nine out of 46 countries are on track to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal target of a 50% reduction in underweight prevalence among children under five years. Despite the huge cost of malnutrition, investment in the nutrition sector has been insufficient. There has been a renewed interest in nutrition recently, however, and it is a potentially opportune moment for investing in nutrition research. The nutrition research agenda will be based on five concepts.

1) Future landscape: Emergence of new nutritional challenges due to changes in the environmental landscape.2) Sustainable and broad-based solutions: Integration of nutrition research within other sectors to ensure sustainable solutions.
3) African centre of gravity: Identification of research opportunities and constraints by African institutions.
4) Broad stakeholder involvement: Strengthening of the link between research and action.
5) Political engagement: Engagement of policy-makers to ensure political buy-in and subsequent action.

SUNRAY has seven work packages:
WP1 optimises cWP2 maps current nutrition research activities in sub-Saharan Africa, and examines the operating environment.
WP3 analyses the views of stakeholders.
WP4 examines the impact of environmental changes on nutrition.
WP5 builds consensus on research priorities through workshops in three African regions.
WP6 develops a strategic framework for future research in the form of a roadmap.
WP7 disseminates project outputs.ommunication and coordination within the Consortium.ndscape: Emergence of new nutritional challenges due to changes in the environmental landscape.