WASHINGTON, D.C. — Results for Development (R4D) has released a report showing a worrying decline in donor disbursements for priority nutrition interventions between 2020 and 2021, the most recent year for which donor disbursement data is available. This drop in aid for nutrition in the year following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is especially concerning given the dramatic rise in malnutrition during that same time.
The report, Tracking aid for the WHA nutrition targets: Progress toward the global nutrition goals between 2015-2021, examines trends in donor disbursements for stunting, wasting, anemia, exclusive breastfeeding, and the enabling environment. We don’t yet know if this trend has improved from 2021 to 2023 in light of new nutrition financing commitments made during that period. The $577 million pledge to tackle severe wasting from several governments, philanthropies, and private donors in 2022 is particularly promising, but the impact from that funding remains to be seen in future data.
In 2017, the World Bank, R4D and 1,000 Days launched the Global Investment Framework for Nutrition (GIFN), which estimated the costs to scale up a package of nutrition-specific interventions to achieve the World Health Assembly (WHA) targets for nutrition. Since then, many have called for greater investments to combat malnutrition, but the financing gap has continued to grow. The need also continues to grow; the 2022 Global Nutrition Report states that nutrition-specific financing needs have grown from GIFN estimates of $7 billion per year for 2016-2025 to $10.8 billion over 2022-2030. This means even if donor funding did meet the targets expressed in the GIFN, it still would not be enough to address the true need.
“This new analysis exposes the largest gap between donor financing and what is needed since tracking for donor commitments for nutrition started in 2015,” said Albertha Nyaku, R4D’s nutrition practice lead. “We see a similar trend at the country level, with domestic resources for nutrition facing huge strains. Sustainable financing from both donors and country governments is critical to get back on track in the fight against malnutrition.”
The report includes six key messages for the global community to act on:
- Donor disbursements to WHA priority interventions decreased by $43 million from 2020 to 2021.
- Development assistance for the priority interventions has been relatively flat over the past 5 years, and humanitarian assistance decreased between 2020 and 2021 (despite increasing needs due to COVID-19, conflict, and climate change).
- In 2021, there was a nearly $500 million shortfall, which is the largest single-year gap since tracking began. This means that nearly a quarter of what’s needed from donors isn’t being met.
- There’s been no progress on stunting, anemia, or exclusive breastfeeding, as donor disbursements to these targets have either plateaued or significantly decreased since 2015.
- While wasting has seen a bump in investments overall, funding channeled through development assistance for wasting has plateaued, indicating that not enough is being done to strengthen the treatment of wasting within existing systems.
- Most major nutrition donors increased funding for the WHA priority interventions since 2015, but some have seen significant dips since 2020.
“The drop in financing for priority nutrition interventions between 2020 and 2021 is concerning in light of growing need, but recent initiatives to increase multisectoral financing for malnutrition (exhibited through the 2022 pledge for wasting prevention and treatment, the UN Food Systems Summit, and the Global Gender Nutrition Gap Action Agenda, for example) are promising,” said Caroline Andridge, a senior program officer at R4D. “The growing interconnectedness between malnutrition, health, gender and climate make ongoing efforts to improve accuracy and transparency in donor financial reporting with multisectoral tools, like the OECD nutrition policy marker, even more critical.”
Since 2017, R4D has been tracking donor disbursements to priority interventions for achieving the WHA nutrition targets and monitoring progress toward the GIFN’s financial benchmarks. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports the project in collaboration with other partners.
Click here to view the latest full report and previous financing analyses.
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About Results for Development
Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — supporting them as they navigate complex change processes to achieve large-scale, equitable outcomes in health, education and nutrition. We work with country leaders to diagnose challenges, co-create, innovate and implement solutions built on evidence and diverse stakeholder input, and engage in learning to adapt, iterate and improve. We also strengthen global, regional and country ecosystems to support country leaders with expertise, evidence, and innovations. R4D helps country leaders solve their immediate challenges today, while also strengthening systems and institutions to address tomorrow’s challenges. And we share what we learn so others around the world can achieve results for development too. www.R4D.org
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