Focus on Poverty: More nutrition science or political will?

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The second Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) has just been launched, providing detailed evidence on efforts to reduce hunger (ten indicators) and undernutrition (12 indicators) in 45 developing countries. [1]

The data show that the richer among these countries often do better —more resources should, after all, mean better outcomes. They also show that some poorer countries have been improving their performancedespite difficult circumstances. Brazil, Guatemala, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Peru and Tanzania came out as highly committed to taking action,with Burundi and Liberia making progress on reducing chronic hunger and undernutrition. [2]

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, 842 million people were suffering from chronic hunger between 2011 and 2013 —about 12 per cent of the global population. Undernutrition contributed to 45 per cent of the deaths of children under the age of five. And, in the first 1,000 days of life, it has long-term and irreversible effects, including on cognitive skills that can reduce an individual’s potential for learning and earning.

Source: SciDev.Net (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
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Base of the Pyramid, nutrition, public health