Qatar joins fight against malnutrition

Robert Hamilton
For Al-Shorfa.com
2008-07-14

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani addresses the 62nd U.N. General Assembly at the United Nations, September 25, 2007. (AFP Photo/Emmanuel Dunand)

Qatar is to join the fight against world hunger and malnutrition by working alongside the U.N. to develop bacterial technology that could save millions of lives.

The Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), under the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council, will open an office in Doha, it was announced this week.

Spirulina is a key driver to eradicate malnutrition, achieve food security and to bridge the health divide globally, IIMSAM goodwill ambassador Maria Cedrell told delegates at a ceremony to appoint Qatar’s Dr. Naseer Shahir Hamoud as a fellow goodwill ambassador. She added that it was hoped that IIMSAM’s decision would help intensify UN efforts to combat malnutrition across the Middle East region.

Spirulina is the common name for human and animal food supplements produced primarily from two species of cyanobacteria, Arthrospira platensis and Arthrospira maxima. Spirulina is cultivated around the world and is used as a human dietary supplement as well as a whole food. It is available in tablet, flake and powder form. It is also used as a feed supplement in the aquaculture, aquarium and poultry industries. The blue-green algae is considered a valuable additional food source of some macro and micro nutrients including high quality protein, iron gammalinolenic fatty acid, carotenoids, and vitamins B1 and B2.

Cedrell said the agency already had projects in Fallujah, Iraq, and in Gaza, while Somalia, Palestine and Sudan are among other countries where IIMSAM is planning to launch.

The Fallujah project was started by IIMSAM’s Iraqi goodwill ambassador, Sheikh Tarik al-Abdullah, and is a $4 million project for the victims of malnutrition. Abdullah is the chief facilitator of the project and has contributed 40 hectares of land in Fallujah for the cultivation of Spirulina. The project was officially launched at the U.N. headquarters in New York on April 16, and its first phase will be completed shortly.

“Spirulina is widely grown in India, America, Cuba, Argentina, Italy, China and Turkey,” Cedrell continued. “It is urgent that the international community be sensitised and actuated to counter malnutrition that severely diminishes the human capital of any country, and its multifarious impacts which hinder the universal achievement of the U.N. Millennium Development goals.

“Developing countries are especially vulnerable to this easily avoidable catastrophe,” she added, calling for further support for IIMSAM initiatives and affirmative action programmes.

Cedrell noted that the intake of 2 to 3 grams of spirulina powder along with a child’s daily diet is enough to effectively combat malnutrition. Cuba, one of the richest producers of Spirulina, is providing 200,000 tons free to IIMSAM, she added.

Advocated by the UN World Food conference in 1974 as the “best food for the future”, Spirulina has been proposed by both NASA and the European Space Agency as one of the primary foods to be cultivated during long-term space missions.

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