NGER A LIFE FREE FROM HUNGER - Save the Children

a life free from hunger
IN BANGLADESH THE PROPORTION OF STUNTED
CHILDREN FELL FROM 68% IN 1990 TO 43% IN RECENT
YEARS – A REDUCTION OF 3% PER YEAR, WHICH IS
ONE OF THE FASTEST IN A LOW-INCOME COUNTRY
Bangladesh’s example shows that significant progress is possible even in a low-income
country. Save the Children estimates that if the rest of the world had been able to match
Bangladesh’s rate of progress on stunting since 1990, there would be 27 million fewer
stunted children in the world today. 46
NUTRITION – KEY TO A GROWING ECONOMY:
THE USA’S MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE
CORPORATION AND INDONESIA
The government of Indonesia identified stunting as one of the major barriers to
enabling the country to grow to have one of the strongest national economies
in the 21st century. To address this, the USA government’s Millennium Challenge
Corporation will provide $131.5 million over five years to reduce stunting in the
crucial 0–2 age range by investing in the 1,000-day window from conception to a
child’s second birthday.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation was created as a model of development
assistance to reduce poverty through economic growth. Using a strict series
of metrics to select recipient countries and measure results – including a hard
threshold for the economic rate of return on all projects – the Millennium
Challenge Corporation focuses on the growth of people and economies.
STUNTING AND EQUITY
Economic growth will not necessarily reduce stunting unless it reaches the poorest and
most vulnerable children and their families. Growth must be equitable so that increased
wealth reaches the poorest and most vulnerable and makes an impact on the nutritional
intake of those children who need it the most.
In the 20 countries where around 80% of the world’s stunted children live, children from
better-off families face a lower risk of stunting. However, rates of stunting are high across
all wealth groups, from richest to poorest, which suggests that increased wealth is not
enough to prevent stunting.
The trend is slightly different in low-income countries, such as Liberia and Tanzania, from
lower-middle income countries, such as India and Nigeria. Figure 2 opposite divides
the population of countries into fifths, according to the wealth of the household and
compares the rate of stunting across these five income groups. Data from 2005 onwards
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