the global malnutrition crisis

The state of global nutrition is dire, with 2.8 billion people unable to afford a healthy diet. Climate change, conflict, and economic shocks are pushing millions of people into poverty and increasing malnutrition and hunger, rolling back decades of progress. In March, at a ‘Nutrition for Growth’ (N4G) Summit in France, nations around the world including the UK will need to pledge the financial resources necessary to get the global fight against malnutrition back on track.

what

around the world, malnutrition and poverty are spreading, and resources to improve nutrition are urgently needed

who

the UK Government must provide new funding to help achieve global nutrition targets

how

ask the Government to pledge financial support at the ‘Nutrition for Growth’ (N4G) Summit in March

globally, nutrition is getting worse

The world is facing a malnutrition crisis, made worse by climate change, conflict, and economic shocks. 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, 152 million more than in 2019, while over 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. And at least two-thirds of adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and anaemia, with devastating consequences for their lives and wellbeing.

Ensuring adequate nutrition is not only a moral imperative, but also a foundational step towards achieving broader health, education and economic goals. Without greater investment, the economic costs of malnutrition will be $41 trillion over the next ten years. The cost in lost lives and lost futures is higher: over 6 million more child deaths, 27 million more stunted children, 47 million more cases of child wasting, and 144 million more of maternal anaemia.

how can the world tackle malnutrition?

There are highly cost-effective interventions for reducing childhood deaths and illnesses due to malnutrition, such as prenatal vitamins and minerals (‘multiple micronutrient supplementation’ or MMS) and breastfeeding support. These have been used successfully in countries such as Ethiopia and Sierra Leone. These examples should galvanise political leaders across the world, including those in the UK, into supporting nutrition with far greater vigour.

In 2013, the UK hosted the first ever ‘Nutrition for Growth’ (N4G) Summit in 2013, which galvanised commitments for nutrition totalling $23 billion. This March, the French Government is hosting the next N4G Summit in Paris, aiming to gain new funding for the fight against malnutrition and hunger. This is a crucial opportunity for donor countries to pledge commitments that will help reverse the rise in malnutrition, and improve the health, development, and economic potential of millions of people worldwide.

Alongside the N4G process, countries should be able to devote more of their resources to health and good nutrition, such as by reducing unsustainable debt burdens, and having access to reliable financing for poverty reduction, as Results campaigners have recently been calling for.

what is the UK Government’s role?

The UK Government’s spending on nutrition saw a 60% reduction in 2021, just when the world was facing an escalating malnutrition crisis. Cuts to the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget had a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations facing hunger and malnutrition, undermining investments in wider human development.
The 2025 Paris Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit is a crucial moment for the UK to demonstrate that Britain is back as a key nutrition partner. By reconnecting with this process and making a strong financial commitment at the Summit, the UK will be investing in lifesaving nutrition and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
If the UK’s nutrition spending had reduced in line with the overall aid budget, then yearly spending on nutrition should be around £621 million. But the UK’s N4G commitment to nutrition following the last N4G Summit in Japan in 2021 amounts to just £187 million per year.

specific recommendations for the UK Government

Taking into consideration the current ODA budget, Results believes the UK should now budget for at least £500 million on ‘nutrition-specific’ programmes over the next five years (programmes that target the immediate causes of malnutrition, often delivered through health systems). Funding should be targeted to the populations most at risk of malnutrition, including women, adolescents and children under five, people with disabilities, and communities living in fragile contexts. As well as averting thousands of child deaths, this would generate an estimated £11.5 billion in economic benefits via improved global productivity and decreased health and social costs.

In addition, by aligning spending across all UK ODA programmes with nutrition objectives, the UK could deliver more impact. This ‘nutrition-sensitive’ programming targets the underlying causes of malnutrition as well as having a positive impact for the sector they are focused on. For example, making investments in agriculture and climate more nutrition-sensitive could lead to healthier diets, lower emissions and more climate-resilient food systems. The UK should commit to spend approximately £500 million per year on nutrition-sensitive programmes (£2.5 billion over the next five years) to restore them to previous levels, proportionate to the current ODA budget.

take action!

Please write to the Development Minister, Anneliese Dodds MP, asking her to ensure that the UK Government pledges significant resources at the 2024 Nutrition for Growth Summit in March.
Address for your letter: Rt. Hon. Anneliese Dodds MP, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH. Email: [email protected]
Urge that the UK Government should pledge at least £500 million over the next 5 years on ‘nutrition-specific’ programmes that directly tackle malnutrition, as well as ensuring that an additional £500 million per year is spent on ‘nutrition-sensitive’ programmes that also contribute to improved nutrition.

take action!

write to the Development Minister about your support for ending global malnutrition

ask her to pledge significant funding for nutrition at the N4G Summit in Paris this March

I took action!

we’re here to support you!

If you have any questions or need support or advice in writing your letter, please contact Naveed Chaudhri, Head of Campaigns, at [email protected].

Good news on breastfeeding support: Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is one of only six Global South countries projected to achieve 70% of exclusive breastfeeding prevalence for babies under 6 months old by 2030. Supported by official donors, including the UK, it has adopted many approaches to reach this position. For example, exclusive breastfeeding messages are communicated via radio, awareness drives and mother-to-mother support groups. It is particularly important to address misconceptions on the part of mothers, and also to educate fathers about the health and financial benefits of breastfeeding.

Training hospital staff has also enabled maternity facilities in Sierra Leone to become more trusted centres of breastfeeding.

Read more about Sierra Leone’s approach to breastfeeding in our ‘good news on nutrition’ briefing.

Image: M’balu Turay, a member of the Masiaka Mothers’ Support Group, Sierra Leone, mentors another member of the Group.

https://www.unicef.org/sierraleone/stories/caring-communitys-children

Credit: UNICEF Sierra Leone / 2019 / Kidd