In 2015, global citizens took more than 300,000 actions to address the problem of food security and malnutrition, and signed petitions and tweeted 88,360 times on the issue of malnutrition and calling for the G7 to fund their promise to reduce infant child malnutrition.

Encouraged by the groundswell of support from global citizens, Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima demonstrated that Malawi and other African nations stand ready to address the health and nutrition of their populations, through the Malabo Declaration, which sets out a series of agricultural goals.

Speaking to global citizens via videolink at Global Citizen Festival 2015, President Chilima announced, “We will not only achieve food and nutrition security for citizens, but also reduce the rates of stunting to 10% and underweight to 5% by 2024.”

This target is six years ahead of the Global Goals and one year ahead of Malawi’s previous Malabo Declaration commitment.

It highly significant as currently 16% of Malawian children are underweight, and more than 40% of children fall below the World Health Organization’s median height.