Looking Ahead to the "Nutrition For Growth Summit" in Paris
Questions and answers on the importance of healthy nutrition for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. What course should be set? Is this possible without the USA? What solutions are possible?
1. What is at stake at the N4G summit in Paris in mid-March? How important is it for the 2030 Agenda ?
Things are not looking good for the achievement of the global sustainability goals. Many goals will not be achieved by 2030 without radical readjustment. Nutrition is not just one aspect of Sustainable Development Goal 2 "Zero Hunger" (SDG2). Rather, through its contribution to health, education, gender equality and economic productivity, (healthy) nutrition is the basis for achieving the 2030 Agenda as a whole.
Here are just some aspects of the impact of nutrition: Malnutrition causes enormous damage. Millions of people around the world – especially children – suffer from inadequate or malnutrition. Malnutrition is the cause of half of all child deaths worldwide. Chronic and acute malnutrition and a diet that does not provide enough micronutrients can lead to lifelong health consequences and serious illnesses such as iron deficiency, mental retardation and permanent blindness.
The "Generation Nutrition" network, to which Welthungerhilfe also belongs, determined in a study in mid-2024 that, at the current rate, it would take 50 years to end growth retardation in children and more than 100 years to end wasting (indicators of chronic or acute malnutrition).
Poor nutrition can also lead to overweight and obesity. This affects 2.5 billion people worldwide - with an increasing trend even in countries of the global South. They are exposed to an increased risk of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
2. What about finance for countermeasures?
With all these negative consequences, it is surprising that some would rather invest in the colonization of Mars than in healthy nutrition to ensure the continued existence of mankind.
In its "Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024", the World Bank has calculated that between 2025 and 2034 additional finance of around 13 billion dollars per year compared to the current level of financing will be required to achieve the global goals on healthy nutrition. At the same time, it emphasizes that public policies targeting nutrition are those with the highest return on investment.
In concrete terms: Every dollar invested in overcoming malnutrition brings a return of 23 dollars. However, if no action is taken, the costs will add up to 41 trillion dollars worldwide within ten years. Around half of these costs arise from economic productivity losses due to malnutrition, the other half from economic and social costs due to overweight and obesity.
So, from a purely economic point of view, investing in healthy nutrition pays off. In comparison, these kinds of returns place such an investment among the top ten performers on the stock markets for a ten-year-period. This should give thought to those who give low priority to human rights, including the human right to adequate food.
The year 2025 and the N4G summit are therefore extremely important for setting the political and financial course for the coming years in the area of healthy nutrition and thus also for achieving the global sustainability goals as a whole. This summit takes place every four years, but in 2025 it comes at a time when particularly important decisions are on the agenda. The 20th anniversary year (2024) of the UN Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food has just ended. Work is currently underway in Brussels on the draft budget of the European Union (EU) for the period 2028-2034 – the Multiannual Financial Framework or MFF. 2025 also marks the end of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, and the Global Nutrition Targets, adopted at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2012 for the period up to 2025, must be extended or an adequate alternative must be found.
3. What are the prospects of reaching a financial agreement like the one at the last N4G summit in Tokyo?
The N4G in Tokyo in 2021 did not deliver perfect results, but still provided an enormous motivational boost. 27 billion dollars were pledged at the time – despite a world in Corona mode. In the aftermath of the N4G, total pledges even increased to 42.6 billion dollars. The USA were celebrated for their pledge of 11 billion dollars over three years. The head of USAID, Samantha Power, was one of the highest-ranking participants. Political commitments, such as the implementation of cross-sectoral nutrition strategies with the associated coordination mechanisms, also raised hopes.
Currently US policy is completely unpredictable and the development agency USAID is in the process of disintegration. There is a political impasse in Germany due to early elections, and an austerity budget in France was only passed by the shakiest of majorities. All this does not raise hopes that the political or financial commitments made in Tokyo can be increased in Paris. At present, maintaining the Tokyo level would already be a significant success.
However, it is impossible to elicit a more precise forecast from the relevant players either in Berlin or in Brussels. Country commitments, it appears, will only be presented at the N4G so that they can achieve maximum attention. A more precise overview will therefore only become apparent after the meeting of government representatives.
The same applies to a full reckoning since the 2021 N4G summit. Put simply, there is a database (Nutrition Accountability Framework – NAF) in which all pledgers enter their respective pledges. This NAF provides an overview of who has committed to which nutrition goal and to what (possibly financial) extent. The commitments can be entered at any time, even between the N4Gs. This is also the reason for the difference between the pledges made as part of N4G 2021 itself and the significantly higher total amount subsequent to the Tokyo summit. All commitments from late 2024 onwards are already allocated to N4G 2025. However, an overview will only be available shortly before the upcoming summit.
4. Could US President Trump‘s U-turn on development policy undermine a possible consensus among other donors on nutrition goals? What would be the consequences?
Should the N4G 2025 turn out to be a failure – which hopefully will not be the case – it would be easy to blame current US policy alone. However, this would be too short-sighted. The aforementioned US pledge of 11 billion dollars from 2021 has raised the bar for individual pledges, also measured against the total of 42.6 billion dollars recorded subsequently. However, all over the world the pendulum is swinging towards national egoism and protectionism, which is also putting enormous pressure on development cooperation and humanitarian aid in Germany and Europe. More and more, investments in global sustainability goals – and therefore also in food security – are no longer defined as being "of national interest", which is being interpreted more and more narrowly. This is also dramatically reflected in the election manifestos of many German parties. Multilateralism is becoming a dirty word.
One should not insinuate that participants in the N4G no longer have an interest in nutrition goals. The possibility of achieving these goals in the absence of financial commitments is, however, very limited. Simple political declarations in favor of healthy nutrition will not be enough. Forward-looking, reliable funding is essential.
Apart from financial resources, cross-sectoral coordination would be a positive contribution. Food security and healthy nutrition need to be more closely linked to measures in education, health, water and sanitation, climate adaptation and social protection. Such a multisectoral approach can take complex interactions into account. In Germany, for example, the OECD Nutrition Policy Markers, which classify development cooperation projects as nutrition-sensitive, are not yet being used. They could contribute to more effective cross-sectoral planning and increased transparency of expenditure.
5. What is the EU position? Has it kept promises it made in Tokyo?
The EU's commitment at the N4G conference in Tokyo in 2021 was to provide at least EUR 2.5 billion between 2021 and 2024 for international cooperation (development and humanitarian aid) with the aim of promoting healthy nutrition. This financial commitment was even exceeded subsequently. By the end of 2023, the EU already increased its total commitment to 4.4 billion. It is currently not possible to find out what commitments the EU is prepared to make at this year's N4G summit. But it is to be feared that the uncertain global political situation will also leave its mark here.
However, the European Council in its decision 5264/24 in December 2024 "Stepping up Team Europe's support to global food security and nutrition" encouraged the Commission to revise the EU's "Action Plan on Nutrition 2015-2025", which is due to expire, and to include it in the N4G commitment. Even though this decision is not binding on the Commission, it is a positive and unanimous signal from the European Council. As is the Council's call on Team Europe to strengthen the response to food insecurity and malnutrition, while paying particular attention to respect for human rights.
6. Where is the greatest need for action in malnutrition?
Worldwide, 150 million more women and girls are affected by food insecurity than men – a problem that is deeply rooted in social structures and norms. Women and girls often have less access to resources such as land, education and food. They are often the last to eat in a household and get the least food. This not only endangers their own health, but also that of their families: maternal malnutrition can have a negative impact on child mortality, illness, educational achievement and labor productivity, and reinforces the cycle of malnutrition across generations. Children, and especially smaller children under the age of five, are among the most vulnerable population groups. Inadequate and nutrient-poor diets in children can result in irreversible health damage.
Other characteristics besides age, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status or disability also make access to sufficient and healthy food more difficult. Only through a strong focus on vulnerable groups and gender-transformative approaches that address such structural inequalities can food insecurity and malnutrition be eliminated for all groups in the long term. This also applies in the area of overweight and obesity.
7. Will the summit present "best practice" examples of aid programs?
This is part of the concept, as N4G commitments are called on to be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. The aim is to ensure that by means of the Nutrition Accountability Framework (NAF) mentioned above exemplary measures can be identified that can serve as a blueprint for future commitments – and help to continuously improve subsequent interventions.
The N4G in Paris will also present a Solutions Village, where successful solutions will be presented. Together with its partner Civil Society Organization Nutrition Alliance (CSONA) from Malawi , Welthungerhilfe will participate and present a wide variety of approaches to improving the food situation : including LANN+ (Linking Agriculture and Natural Resource Management towards Nutrition Security), in which Welthungerhilfe combines all important sectors in an inclusive training program, as well as the Sustainable Integrated Farming System (SIFS ) (a universally applicable approach in which smallholder farmers assess their resources and constraints and develop innovative and technologically appropriate solutions based on traditional and scientific knowledge) and several digital tools.
8.What are Welthungerhilfe's priorities in the area of nutrition
Welthungerhilfe's approach to healthy nutrition is very broad.
It ranges from...
- Programs on social and behavioral changes for optimal nutritional behavior (breastfeeding, health, hygiene, cooking and care)
- Promotion of measures to improve the availability of various nutrient-rich foods at household level through home gardens, sustainable use of wild or underutilized foods, biofortified crops, small animal husbandry (e.g. livestock, poultry, fish), as well as nutrient-saving and hygienic food preparation, preservation and processing, but also so-called WASH measures (for clean water and hygiene) and gender-specific measures.
- Identification and treatment of acute malnutrition in cooperation with local government structures and other relevant partners.
- Supporting (local) school feeding programs coupled with education on nutrition, improving the quality of school meals and school nutrition gardens.
- programs to link agriculture and natural resource management as well as WASH for food security.
- Supporting communities in building structures to assert their right to adequate food.
...all the way to building "Nutrition Smart Communities" – a systemic approach that combines four interlocking strategies: (1) promoting behavior change at household level; (2) strengthening and supporting institutions at community level; (3) activating and improving nutrition-related services at community level ; (4) promoting community-based advocacy for the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.
