Briefing Papers Number 7, October 2009 | Page 10

widely accepted, standardized, and powerful measures of nutrition impact. Coordinate action around country-led strategies: From Burkina Faso to Guatemala, many countries are designing comprehensive food and nutrition security plans to guide investments and interventions. Developing countries should be supported in their efforts to design national strategies with assurance that international donors will provide sustained support. These strategies should base action on evidence and include space and flexibility to adjust policies and program designs based on new information gained from research and experimentation. For their part, international donors, the United States included, must coordinate their aid activities to ensure that long-term and appropriate aid resources are available. will not be sustainable. A network of experts can also help communicate best practices and success stories in nutrition and contribute to building a policy framework at the national and international levels. Assisting in the design of training curricula, supporting postsecondary educational opportunities, and facilitating international cooperation and communication among nutrition experts is critical to building capacity and achieving greater consistency among efforts to improve nutrition. Ensure coherence across development activities and other developed country policies. There are many U.S. policies outside development that can impact nutrition. Trade and agriculture policies that hurt smallholder farmers in developing countries, for example, can increase or perpetuate poverty. Intellectual property rights that restrict access to needed technologies can make it more difficult to pursue key health interventions. The United States must take a “whole of government” approach to its global nutrition, food security, and agriculture development objectives. New evidence about what works makes it clear that we can substantially reduce malnutrition, especially during pregnancy and in the early years of life. Not only would more children survive infancy, but by preventing or aggressively treating malnutrition during the first two years of life, these children would grow up to be healthier, more productive adults. What is needed is concerted global attention and action along with sustained commitment of resources. As the world struggles to recover from the devastating impact of the food and financial crisis, renewed commitments to investment in agriculture and food security present an opportunity to tackle maternal and child malnutrition. This opportunity should not be wasted. Both from a moral and an economic standpoint, this may be the best time for the world to focus on the enormous price that the international community pays by failing to address malnutrition. Endnotes Margaret W. Nea 1 G8 (2009) L’Aquila Joint Statement on Global Food Security. D., et. al. (2009) “Levels and Trends in Under-5 Mortality, 19902008” The Lancet. 3 Victora, C.G., et. al. (2008) “Maternal and Child Undernutrition: Consequences for Adult Health and Human Capital” The Lancet. 4 Ibid. 5 Levenstein, H. (2003) Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America. 6 Kennedy, E. (1999) “Public Policy in Nutrition: The U.S. Nutrition Safety Net—Past, Present, and Future” Food Policy. 7 USDA. WIC at a Glance. http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/aboutwic/ wicataglance.htm. Accessed September MK