Every year UNICEF issues an authoritative review called the “State of the World’s Children”. GAIN is proud to have worked closely with UNICEF on its 2019 report issued in London yesterday. The focus of this year’s report is on nutrition and diets. The State of the World’s Children last addressed malnutrition 20 years ago, and much has changed since then.
Poor nutrition is an untrenched global challenge that impacts many of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Solving it will require a significant capital infusion in a more local, more sustainable, global food system able to deliver more affordable healthy food. That’s a big opportunity for impact investors.
I just completed a trio of meetings in Asia (TICAD), Africa (AGRF) and North America (UN General Assembly) all of which had a strong set of dialogues around food systems, asking how they need to be rebuilt to promote human health, rural livelihoods and planetary health.
Today is the United Nations International Youth Day, a day that recognises and celebrates the role that young people play in enhancing our global society. Young people have never been more vocal about their expectations of their leaders and the future they want to secure for themselves and the next generation.
With support from Bestseller Foundation, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is working in the states of Karnataka (with KHPT as implementing partner) and Bihar (with Nidan as implementing partner) in India to improve the nutrition and lives of groups of semi-literate women. GAIN is facilitating the establishment and operationalization of 4 production facilities to produce and distribute a quality assured fortified blended nutritious food.
The world is rapidly urbanising. By 2050, two thirds of the world population will live in urban areas. This has major consequences for peoples’ diets. Cities now face the double burden of malnutrition: micronutrient deficiencies and overnutrition (overweight and obesity).
On 11 July 2017, Lawrence Haddad, GAIN’s Executive Director, attended the UK Nutrition Society meetings in London. His presentation focused on challenges and opportunities for urban nutrition in low and middle income countries.
Through funding from the Bestseller Foundation, GAIN is working in the states of Karnataka and Bihar in India to improve the nutrition and lives of groups of semi-literate women. These women are trained to run their own factories producing a quality blended complementary food product called "Wheatamix" in Bihar and "Shakhti Vita" in Karnataka. This complementary food product, fortified with vitamins and minerals, has the potential to reach thousands of women, adolescents and children in the region.
