I strongly believe in the UK showing leadership on the world stage to address key global challenges and, in doing so, to protect our national interest.
Tackling the scourge of global malnutrition is one such example. It is the leading killer of children under five, it damages the physical and mental development of survivors, and, intricately linked with conflict, it undermines global security.
As Co-Chair of the APPG on Nutrition for Development, I collaborate with cross-party colleagues to support and challenge the UK Government to maintain a key role at the heart of global efforts to combat malnutrition. It is an issue on which all policymakers should unite.
So, last week, I attended the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris, a critical four-yearly international summit to address global malnutrition and improve the lives of millions of people worldwide, especially women and children.
Global malnutrition may seem a far-off problem, but it has implications for all of us. Nutrition is foundational to individual and global development and the route to a fairer, safer world. It is the first indispensable step to shared global goals – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – like health, education, gender equality, economic development, and peace and security. Without access to nutrition, the potential of each person, community, and country is held back. Entire economies are undermined. Poverty and suffering persist and provide fertile recruiting grounds for extremism.
Bluntly put, in a world in which 733 million people are hungry and 42% of the population cannot afford a healthy diet, instability and unrest will fester. Global hunger has huge geopolitical significance, with consequences that spread beyond borders. According to the World Food Programme, for every 1% rise in food insecurity, there is a 2% rise in migration.
It is emphatically in Britain’s strategic interest to play its full part in global efforts to turn the tide on malnutrition. The good news is that we can prevent and treat malnutrition, a condition frequently passed from mother to baby.
Simple nutrition-specific interventions such as ante-natal multiple micronutrient supplements are investments in human capital, delivering benefits that last a lifetime. Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) can pull a young child back from the brink of starvation in weeks. According to the World Bank, for every $1 invested in nutrition, $23 is returned to the local economy.
The UK has a long and proud history of leadership and action on nutrition. We were the founder of the Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2013, when more than one hundred stakeholders pledged their financial support and expertise to improving access to nutritious food across the world.
We have a wealth of expertise to contribute now. The UK is home to world-leading scientists and researchers making strides to advance technologies and nutrient-dense, drought-resistant crops, supporting communities all over the world to have more secure and nutritious diets.
So, it is disappointing that the UK Government chose not to make a financial commitment at last week’s Summit, despite its stated support for nutrition. This disappointment is compounded by the concern that the reduction of ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI by 2027 could make the current global malnutrition crisis even worse.
When ODA was cut in 2021, research conducted by Development Initiatives for the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) indicated that nutrition spending was disproportionally cut by 60%.
Since then, global malnutrition has rocketed. Around two hundred million more people face acute food insecurity this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, fuelled by conflicts and humanitarian crises in Sudan, the DRC, Syria, and Gaza. Up to 1.9 million people are estimated to be on the brink of famine.
But political leadership has the power to disrupt this trajectory. The pledging period for Nutrition for Growth has been extended. The Government could commit to investing £50 million to the Child Nutrition Fund, an innovative financing mechanism with the ability to transform into £500 million through match-funding from global philanthropy and country governments.
As ODA budgets diminish, it becomes increasingly essential for governments to invest funds strategically. Given that investments in nutrition are low-cost and high impact, they should be prioritised and elevated on the international development agenda.
The need could not be more urgent. Action to stop the malign effects of malnutrition should be swift.
We need swift action to stop the malign effects of malnutrition
