Zero Hunger Phase 1 - Undernutrition: What works ?

Action Against Hunger's latest series of publications - Zero Hunger - seeks to understand why and how countries like Brazil and Malawi have managed to reduce undernutrition, while others have not. By pulling together evidence from contexts which have had relative success in bringing down undernutrition rates, the series introduces six key success factors which have been instrumental in the fight against hunger worldwide:

• Put nutrition at the top of the political agenda 
• Ensure the participation of civil society in the development of sustainable policies to improve ownership and impact among affected communities 
• Address the multiple causes of undernutrition through a wide range of sectors, including health, agriculture, water and sanitation, and education to enhance policy coherence and coordination 
• Combine both short and long-term approaches to address both the immediate and underlying causes of undernutrition 
• Coordinate activities across different institutions 
• Provide long-term financial resources to guarantee policy effectiveness Nutrition must be at the forefront of all development and poverty reduction policies. 

Phase 1 reviews the experience of five case study countries - Brazil, Peru, Mozambique, Malawi and Bangladesh - which have had relative success at bringing down rates of undernutrition over the past 15 years and tries to find out why and how these countries have been particularly successful. By studying these successes, we can derive lessons and examples of good practice which can be implemented in other countries and regions.

Action Again Hunger - June 2011