Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 168
and the private sector are increasingly engaged. Recent commitments made at the June
2013 Nutrition for Growth High-Level Meeting20 hosted by the governments of the United
Kingdom, Brazil and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation will be critical in filling
the funding gap. In preparation for the June 2013 meeting, the U.S. government identified
$10 billion a year in nutrition- specific and nutrition-sensitive investments, including food
aid, agricultural development, and health. The U.S. government committed itself to developing a whole-of-government nutrition strategy and will improve the impact of its programming by adopting the evidence-based approaches that are being promoted by the Scaling
Up Nutrition (SUN) movement.
The SUN movement brings together countries—41 at last count—that are committed to
expanding effective, evidence-based nutrition actions so that they reach all young children and
pregnant women at risk of malnutrition. The SUN movement is supporting SUN countries in
developing and implementing country-specific strategies. Each SUN country identifies priorities and promotes both specific nutrition interventions that focus on the 1,000-day window and
nutrition-sensitive policies. SUN has great promise, and its efforts must be supported because
malnutrition remains one of the biggest challenges to development in high-burden countries.
Agricultural Development
The evidence is clear that agriculture-led growth is far more effective in reducing hunger
and poverty than growth driven by other sectors.21 From 1993 to 2002, for example, poverty
declined rapidly in East and Southeast Asia. More than 80 percent of the decline was attributable to better conditions in rural areas, where agriculture was a source of livelihood for 86
percent of the population.22
Economic growth that does not include agriculture as a leading sector often fails to help
hungry and poor people. For example, Tanzania’s economy has been growing steadily over
the past 10 years—by an average of 6.9 percent a year. Five sectors were the source of almost 60
BOX 5.1
NUTRITION-SENSITIVE APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT
• Agriculture: Making nutritious food more accessible to everyone, and supporting small farms as a source of
income for women and families;
• Clean Water and Sanitation: Improving access to reduce infection and disease;
• Education and Employment: Making sure children have the energy that they need to learn and earn sufficient
income as adults;
• Health Care: Improving access to services to ensure that women and children stay healthy;
• Support for Resilience: Establishing a stronger, healthier population and sustained prosperity to better endure
emergencies and conflicts; and
• Women’s Empowerment: At the core of all efforts, women are empowered to be leaders in their families and
communities, leading the way to a healthier and stronger world.
Source: http://scalingupnutrition.org/about
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