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| Rotary's welcome sign |
It is always good to welcome home Zvishavane born Dr
Kransdorff and share his honour of being hailed a pioneer in the fight against malnutrition. He was recently appeared as a guest speaker
at the 2014 Regional Rotary Convention and the
local e’Pap team also had a chance to introduce Dr Kransdorff to a number of local
NGO’s, concerned communities and active advocates for healthy nutrition in
Zimbabwe.
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| Flying the flags of the attending Rotarians |
Kransdorff shared the
focus of his fourteen years of work in improving the use of “mimicked food
state” micro nutrition. As he says,
“It’s not rocket science, it’s all about going back to basics. Our grandmothers knew about food”. We need to move away from measuring
agricultural performance by yield, to change the paradigm and concentrate on
the nutrient content of crops, as well as move away from refined foods.
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| Dr Kransdorff chatting to Troutbeck Staff |
With up to 76% loss in nutrient content of today’s commercially
grown food, our world is in trouble.
When you add to this catastrophe the limited diet available to the poor
in Africa, the issue of micronutrient deficiency should be raising loud alarms.
Iron deficiency in the sub-continent varies, South Africa’s
statistics are 45% and Mozambique 94%, Zimbabwe is somewhere in between. It is no wonder economists are starting to
take note and now are measuring the loss to GDP caused by micro nutrient
deficiencies in the developing world standing at a staggering 2-3%.
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| The beautiful Nyanga water |
The population of
Africa is going to double to 2 billion within the next 30 years. If you think we have problems now, then brace
yourself. As the Doctor says, “If we are
going to get to grips with the huge challenges facing our communities, we are
going to have to prioritise effective nutritional interventions that result in
nutrient replete human beings.” Only
then the phrase “sustainable development” will cease to be a mission statement
and instead become a reality.
The Rotary Regional Convention was superbly organised and
well attended, and alongside Dr Kransdorff they invited two other internationally
renowned Zimbabwean speakers, Dr Tererai Trent and Clive Stockil. What an honour to be asked to speak in the
company of such inspiring Zimbabweans at a venue filled with Rotarians, all of
whom are committed to bringing change to our world.
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| Always happy to be home, we look forward to his next visit! |
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