Nutrition

According to the latest Global Nutrition Report , released in early November, the world remains off-track on meeting nutrition targets, and financing to address malnutrition is not adequate to meet the needs of the problem.

Hunger levels in Africa south of the Sahara remain among the highest in the world, according to the latest Global Hunger Index (GHI) , released today by IFPRI, Concern Worldwide, and Welthungerhilfe.

Malnutrition during the first two years of life can lead to increased risk of child morbidity and mortality. Globally, malnutrition causes 45 percent of all deaths reported for children under the age of 5. In addition, malnutrition can cause suboptimal brain development, which negatively affects cognitive development and can lead to poor educational performance and low productivity in adulthood.

While significant progress has been made in reducing hunger and food insecurity in Africa in recent decades, around one in five people in the region continue to face chronic undernourishment. In a new report from the Malabo Montpellier Panel, “Nourished: How Africa Can Build a Future Free from Hunger and Malnutrition” , researchers take a systematic country-level approach to identify where progress has been achieved and how to replicate and scale up successful policies.

A diverse and nutrient-dense diet is key in the fight against malnutrition. However, in many developing countries, poor households are unable to afford an adequately nutritious diet. A recent study by Fantu Bachewe , Kalle Hirvonen , Bart Minten , and Feiruz Yimer of IFPRI’s Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP) looks at the rising prices of non-staple foods over the past ten years in Ethiopia, where children eat the least diverse diets in all of Africa south of the Sahara and suffer from stunted growth as a result.