WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report from Results for Development (R4D) reveals several concerning trends in donor funding for high-impact nutrition interventions, including near-stagnant disbursements between 2020 and 2022.
The report, “Tracking aid for the WHA nutrition targets: Progress toward the global nutrition goals between 2015-2022,” examines data on donor disbursements for scaling up the World Health Assembly’s priority nutrition interventions across the eight-year period.
It measures those disbursements against the Global Investment Framework for Nutrition (GIFN), which estimates the costs to scale up a package of nutrition-specific interventions at the level required to achieve WHA targets. 2022 is the most recent year for which this data is available.
The latest edition of this report marks another consecutive year of troublesome trends in nutrition intervention funding. The 2023 report, which captured data from 2015 through 2021, noted a $43 million decline in donor disbursements for WHA priority interventions from 2020-21.
Despite a slight increase in disbursements between 2021 and 2022 and an overall average annual increase in funds between 2015 and 2022, the most recent data suggests that disbursements may have plateaued at a time of growing global need.
“The plateau in donor funding for these priority nutrition interventions since 2020 is clearly insufficient to meet the global need for life-saving nutrition interventions,” R4D Senior Program Officer and report author Caroline Andridge said. “We look to the forthcoming updated Investment Framework for Nutrition and the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris to inform and motivate a renewed push for sustainable funding for these critical nutrition investments.”
This year’s reporting also unearthed a roughly 20% gap in the funding needed for the priority nutrition interventions in 2022 alone. That funding gap, which has accumulated since 2015, reached a staggering $2.1 billion in 2022. The report notes this estimate is conservative.
In addition to these findings, the report includes three other key messages:
- Donor funding for wasting treatment and for support to the overall enabling environment for nutrition has seen an overwhelmingly positive trend since 2015.
- Disbursements to stunting, anemia and exclusive breastfeeding have decreased since 2015.
- Several of the top donors decreased funding for priority interventions since 2021, and these decreases are expected to continue.
“There is enhanced attention among several governments on the need for increased resources for nutrition interventions, and many countries are backing this up with increased public funding for nutrition across various sectors,” said R4D Nutrition Practice Lead Albertha Nyaku. “It is therefore concerning that the gap for donor funding for nutrition is widening. The current data therefore calls for a renewed action to increase donor funds for nutrition.”
R4D has tracked donor disbursements to priority interventions for achieving the WHA nutrition targets and monitoring progress toward the Global Investment Framework for Nutrition’s financial benchmarks since 2017. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports the project in collaboration with other partners.
This report represents the final year of reporting against the GIFN in this way. A forthcoming update of the Global Investment Framework for Nutrition will have new cost estimates that run through 2034.
Read the full report here.
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About Results for Development
Results for Development (R4D) is a leading nonprofit 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
