CARE International and the Graça Machel Trust (GMT) through the East and Southern Africa Civil Society Nutrition Network (ESA CSN) jointly commissioned a study to establish baseline national budget nutrition commitments and expenditures. The study, East and Southern Africa (ESA) National Budget Commitment to Nutrition, clearly shows not enough is being spent on nutrition.
The study, covers nine countries, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Despite evidence on the importance of nutrition to national development, the report has found that most governments are not meeting the levels of investment recommended to achieve the nutrition targets in the Sustainable Development Goals, to which all countries have subscribed.
Below are some glaring facts established by the study:
- All the countries failed to meet the World Bank recommendation of US$30 on nutrition per every under-five child from their own national resources that some countries pledged to in the Nutrition for Growth Summit Commitments.
- Even with donor support, only three countries, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Malawi managed to meet the US$30 investment on nutrition per child under five target.
- Without donor support, the Governments of South Sudan, Rwanda and Malawi spent just $0.15, $9.48 and $2.42 respectively on nutrition for each under-five child, revealing a heavy dependence on donors.
- Despite some progress registered in the reduction of stunting rates, there is uncertainty over the sustainability of these outcomes because of the heavy dependence on donor support.
- In Mozambique and Zambia, donors account for over 67% of nutrition funding, while it is the highest in South Sudan, at 84%.
- According to the study, of the nine countries, Malawi allocated the most to nutrition from national resources, at 58% of the total national budget, increasing to 1.15% when donor support is incorporated.
- The lowest national budget allocation to nutrition, excluding donor support, was from South Sudan, at 0.09%, even though the overall national investment on nutrition stands at 0.5% of the national budget.
- The average allocation to nutrition as a share of the national budget across the nine countries was 0.45%.
Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition partners are using this report to advocate for sustainable pathways to ensure governments take full responsibility of the nutrition agenda, including allocating and spending at least 3% national budget to nutrition, among other measures. Governments are encouraged to explore creative ways of meeting the ânutrition for growth summit recommendationâ of spending $30 per every under-five child to fight malnutrition, especially stunting, which has serious long-term implications on cognitive development. Being a multifaceted issue, the report further recommends that nutrition be mainstreamed into national development plans and policies.
Learn more on the East and Southern Africa (ESA) National Budget Commitment to Nutrition Report here
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