Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 167

CHAPTER 5 programs. Nutrition-sensitive relates to underlying determinants of good nutrition, such as investments in agriculture, health, or education. Homestead gardening programs are an agriculture investment that is nutrition sensitive. In Bangladesh, Helen Keller International (HKI) provided seeds and technical assistance to village families to grow nutrient-rich vegetables. In Bangladesh, a poor family’s diet consists of rice and little else. Vitamin A deficiency causes 30,000 children in Bangladesh to go blind every year. HKI reported the children participating in the program “Stunting is the consumed significantly more nutrient-rich food. The surplus of leading cause of death vegetables also contributed to raising family incomes. and disability among The Lancet identified 10 evidence-based interventions proven children under 5.” to have an impact on the nutrition and health of children. The cost of scaling up these interventions in the 34 countries with 90 percent of the world’s malnourished children would be $9.6 billion annually.17 It would result in a million lives saved and avert a fifth of all stunting.18 Shared among developing countries and donors, this should be easily affordable. It is not just money that is needed. Many developing countries don’t have the institutional capacity to plan and deliver nutrition interventions at scale.19 The good news on nutrition is that the governments of many of the most affected countries are committing leadership and resources, donor funding is rising, and civil society Figure 5.2 Countries with the Highest Burden of Malnutrition Afghanistan Chad Niger Burkina Faso Mali Guatemala Egypt Sudan Côte d’Ivoire Ghana Nigeria Cameroon Angola Zambia South Africa Iraq Yemen Pakistan Nepal Bangladesh Myanmar India Vietnam Philippines Ethiopia Nepal Kenya Uganda Rwanda DR Congo Indonesia Tanzania Madagascar Malawi Mozambique I High Burden Countries I Other Countries These 34 countries account for 90% of the global burden of malnutrition. Source: The Lancet, 2013. www.bread.org/institute? ? 2014 Hunger Report? 157 n