Nutrition for Development (N4D)

Nutrition for development (N4D) aims to enhance strategic collaboration and partnership between the Commission and EU Member States for further coherence and effective support to partner countries in the combat against all forms of malnutrition. This is in line with the commitments and strategic priorities of the European Commission (EC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG2 to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. 

Nutrition for Development (N4D) seeks to strengthen strategic collaboration and partnerships between the European Commission (EC), Member States, and partner countries, with the wider aim to reduce maternal and child malnutrition, in response to the commitments and priorities of the EC and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 2.2: to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. 

N4D supports the European Commission Action Plan on Nutrition

The Action Plan on Nutrition outlines how the Commission plans to help partner countries reduce stunting in children under five.

Stunting or chronic malnutrition is a condition where a child is too short for their age as a result of inadequate nutrition over a long period of time.

The risk of stunting is inter-generational, passed from one generation to the next through the presence of social, economic and gender inequities – and possibly also through epigenetic mechanisms.

Adolescent girls and women who were stunted as children, and who are underweight and gain less than the recommended weight during pregnancy, are more likely to have a difficult birth and poor birth outcomes. Children born to stunted mothers also have a higher risk of mortality compared to those born to non-stunted mothers.

Stunting can therefore be understood as a reliable marker of adverse environmental conditions which are themselves associated with delayed child development, lower education attainment, reduced earnings in adulthood and chronic diseases.

Furthermore, stunting is a risk factor for obesity and chronic non communicable diseases (NCDs) both in childhood and later life. This is why the indicator of stunting in children under the age of five has such strategic significance, not only for Sustainable Development Goal 2 but for the 2030 Agenda as a whole.

Two key commitments

Two key commitments underpin the strategic and operational focus of the European Union’s work on nutrition in the context of international partnerships:

• the 2012 commitment to support partner countries to reduce the number of stunted children under the age of five by at least 7 million by 2025; and
• the 2013 commitment to ensure the allocation of EUR 3.5 billion between 2014 and 2020 to improve nutrition in partner countries from the development and humanitarian aid budgets.

Moreover, the EC pledged further EUR 2.5 billion from 2021 to 2024 to reduce all forms of malnutrition at the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2021.

The above two commitments are enshrined in the EU’s policy framework on nutrition, which consists of the 2013 Commission Communication on ‘Enhancing Maternal and Child Nutrition in External Assistance: an EU policy Framework’ and the 2014 Action Plan on Nutrition. Progress can be studied further through the links below, while the publication Projects that Work for Improved Nutrition provides examples of EU-funded projects and their results.

• Progress in supporting partner countries to reduce the number of children stunted
• Progress in ensuring the allocation of EUR 3.5 billion to nutrition
• The 7th Progress Report on the Commission's Action Plan on Nutrition April 2021 - March 2022
• Projects that work for improved nutrition.

Nutrition Quick Tips Series

The Nutrition Quick Tips Series, intended for use by EU and EC technical staff, provides practical guidance on how programming and support across multiple sectors can contribute to improved nutrition outcomes. The series covers 12 subjects ranging from nutrition-sensitive food production, WASH, and health, to governance, gender, and reporting to the OECD-DAC system. The Quick Tips also support webinars on the INTPA Academy.    

• Nutrition Quick Tips Series.