Nutrition for Growth Summit: Remembering the Equity Case for Nutrition
Eric Mitchell | Executive Director | Alliance to End Hunger
This week marks the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Japan. USAID Administrator Samantha Power delivered remarks in which she stated that the U.S. Government was prepared to commit “up to $11 billion over the next three years to combat global malnutrition through locally-designed and locally-led programs.” This is heartening. To those of us working in global anti-hunger advocacy, malnutrition has always been among our top priorities, especially given its devastating impacts on young children. Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under 5, and is linked to long-term illness and impaired cognitive development. Financial commitments like those made by Administrator Power and the U.S. Government are great — as is the intention to focus funds on locally-led programs — but we must ensure these funds reach those most in need.
In 2019, the U.S. government was able to reach more than 27 million children through nutrition programs. Then came the pandemic. Children remain at the top of the list of most nutritionally impacted by Covid-19. UN leaders assert that structural interruptions to the production, transportation, and distribution of food are to blame for an additional 10,000 child deaths during the first 12 months of the pandemic worldwide. By next year, nearly 14 million more children are likely to be severely malnourished because of the pandemic’s impacts.
Unfortunately, it sometimes seems like we are screaming these awful statistics into a void. Perhaps lawmakers have grown weary of constant requests for nutrition investments. Perhaps, amid a pandemic, political turmoil, devastating climate calamities, and international conflict, the need to address malnutrition appears less immediate.
I believe malnutrition is an issue of equity — or lack thereof — and reframing it as such in light of these crises might finally move our leaders to act.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines equity as “the absence of avoidable or remediable differences among populations or groups defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically.” Unequal distribution of power, income, and access to basic goods and services — and the nonexistent political will to address this inequality — are major drivers of inequity. These drivers result in an infringement upon human rights, catalyzing an array of catastrophes, with malnutrition among the most egregious.
The equity perspective lends itself to the logical connection that an individual’s location proximal to violent conflict, political upheaval, climate devastation, poverty, infrastructural challenges, illness, etc. should not impair their ability to nourish themselves or their children. Unfortunately, nutrition has historically been a relatively low priority for country governments and donors. Lawmakers at the congressional and administration levels are currently looking to reprioritize nutrition, but the challenge lies in making it real.
Introduced this past summer, the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 (H.R. 4693 in the House of Representatives, S. 2956 in the Senate), seeks to improve success of U.S. government nutrition programs by making them more integrated, coordinated, and effective. It will elevate nutrition on the U.S. government’s priority list, establishing a five-year strategy to support countries in implementing their plans to prevent and treat malnutrition led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The bill will invest resources in high-impact nutrition programs to protect the nutrition of women and children in the critical 1,000-day window between pregnancy and age 2. It would also require USAID to report to Congress annually on progress made toward preventing and treating malnutrition globally, ensuring improved accountability and transparency on the use of taxpayer dollars and the impact of U.S. government global nutrition investments.
During his address to the United Nations earlier this year, President Biden stated, “At a time when nearly one in three people globally do not have access to adequate food…the United States is committing to rallying our partners to address immediate malnutrition and to ensure that we can sustainably feed the world for decades to come.” We could not agree more with the president, but it is going to take U.S. leadership to make this a reality.
According to The International Food Policy Research Institute, every $1 invested in global nutrition creates $16 in economic returns due to decreased healthcare costs and increased economic productivity, yet vulnerable populations continue to be disproportionately impacted by malnutrition. If properly implemented, the prospective global malnutrition legislation will benefit those who have been hit hardest by the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those who are always more susceptible to malnutrition. Not only will we see better health outcomes; the proposed legislation will help to build and strengthen local economic opportunities and provide more resources to help children survive and thrive.
The past 20+ months have exposed many aspects of inequity in our own society and those around the world, culminating in malnutrition rates that disproportionately impact those who are most vulnerable. Hopefully, between commitments such as those delivered by Administrator Power at Nutrition for Growth, as well as the bipartisan megaphone through the global malnutrition legislation, we can send a message to the world that we can and should take the lead in combating malnutrition everywhere.
