There is over 200 million undernourished people in the African continent, and with the novel coronavirus sweeping countries, the urgency to address their food and health systems increases as undernourished people have weak immune systems leaving them vulnerable and exposed to COVID-19.

Read the full interview with Dr Jane Battersby

"This is making diverse diets more costly for citizens.The Global Nutrition Report argues that in terms of both health and systemic resilience, there is a need for food systems to 'go beyond a narrow focus on energy intake; reduce the dominance of cereal production (maize, rice and wheat); and increase the availability of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, nuts and whole grains'," Battersby says.

The novel coronavirus pandemic exposes deep inequalities within countries and weak food and health systems - a view shared by food experts during the report launch.

As a result the 2020 Global Nutrition Report is calling on governments, businesses and civil society to step up efforts to address malnutrition in all its forms and tackle injustices in food and health systems.

For countries' food and health systems to be more equitable, the report recommends that strong governmental coordination on nutrition should be put in place.