Summary
This study is the result of a landscape analysis undertaken by Action Against Hunger UK for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to identify the spectrum of private sector contributions to targeted prevention and management of wasting and related child mortality, and identify the major gaps for advocacy, partnership and investment. As part of the study, this interactive map of the landscape of products technologies and services for wasting was generated using Kumu, to enable easy visualisation of the products, and interactive access to the product supplier and information.
Background
In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals were established including a bold commitment to eliminate all forms of malnutrition in the world by 2030. Specific targets set at the World Health Assembly included reducing the global proportion of children suffering from wasting to below 3% by 2030. Today, globally and in many countries, we are far from reaching that target, and the COVID-19 pandemic is putting millions more children at risk. In 2020, 6.7% of all children under five years of age are wasted, that’s 45.4 million cases worldwide[1] and yet in 2019 the numbers of children reported as treated for wasting total only 11 million, suggesting only 24% of children in need of treatment currently have access to it.[2] In tackling wasting, although coverage of community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) has been increasing in the last two decades, we are still trapped in a low-level equilibrium of failure. With food insecurity and climate-related shocks, hunger is set to rise worldwide, and yet we are still only treating a minority of affected children we need radical and game-changing solutions to address this.
The Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) movement has long identified public-private partnerships as an important area to progress global nutrition goals and has identified missed opportunities to expand that potential. Many of these contributions remain underexplored, in particular in the domain of contributions to the targeted prevention and management of acute malnutrition/ wasting in children. This study is the result of a landscape analysis undertaken by Action Against Hunger UK for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to identify the spectrum of private sector contributions to targeted prevention and management of wasting and related child mortality, and identify the major gaps for advocacy, partnership and investment.
The study included a survey of private sector, UN and NGO and academic actors working in this area, and mapping of products, technologies and services (PTSs), as well as key informant interviews on the barriers to scale. A total of 190 respondents participated in the survey and together with the landscape searches, 112 products, technologies and services were identified that have been contributed largely by private sector entities.
The interactive landscape below was developed as part of this study. This interactive map of the landscape of products technologies and services for wasting has been generated using Kumu, to enable easy visualisation of the products, and interactive access to the product supplier and information. The interactive map enables the landscape of product to be viewed according to various product groupings, by default. By clicking on the “settings” table, indicated by the green arrow in the figure below, you can also choose to group by region of headquarters or distribution area, licensing, stage of development or type of company.
Explore the map
Limitations of data collection
The data included here was collected through a combination on surveys, online searches and inclusion of product market information from humanitarian procurement/suppliers. However, we’ve no doubt this left many gaps. It is hoped that this will grow over time and become a ‘living’ document as new initiatives are identified.
References
[1] UNICEF/WHO/World Bank (2021). Joint child malnutrition estimates: levels and trends in child malnutrition: key findings of the 2021 edition
[2] UN Global action plan on child wasting: a framework for action to accelerate progress in preventing and managing child wasting and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
This work was undertaken by Action Against Hunger UK and the State of Acute Malnutrition with the support of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and the SUN Business Network.
