Malnutrition and Fast Food in Sub-Saharan Africa
What is the connection between different diets and climate change? This is what nutritionist and epidemiologist Dr. Ina Danquah will be researching in sub-Saharan Africa. She is planning to develop sustainable nutrition strategies that take into account the very different challenges in rural and urban regions.
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The goal of Dr. Danquah’s research project: to improve the nutritional situation in rural regions and inform the urban population about traditional diets.
Climate change, increasingly poor harvests, and malnutrition in rural areas versus climate-damaging lifestyles, more and more fast food, and obesity in cities: This is the range of challenges in sub-Saharan Africa the research of Dr. Ina Danquah will have to contend with. She is set to conduct two studies with local experts from different universities in Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries. While one study focuses on the rural region around the town of Nouna, where one in four children under the age of five suffers from chronic malnutrition, the other concentrates on the capital, Ouagadougou, where one in four adults is overweight or even obese.
With her research project, Dr. Danquah intends to improve the nutritional situation for young children in rural areas and draw attention to the health-promoting effects of a traditional diet in the city. Another central idea is strengthening biodiversity and domestic food production. Dr. Danquah will carry out her research as the Robert Bosch Junior Professor 2019. The Robert Bosch Stiftung will provide her with one million euros over a period of five years to develop sustainable nutrition strategies. Watch the video for some initial insights into her project.