Nutrition was on the agenda, and there wasn’t a finance minister in sight. Meeting at the tail end of the World Bank’s spring meetings Sunday, big names including Bill Gates and the newly appointed CEO of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation Kate Hampton had gathered to champion nutrition as “the foundation of development.” But when moderator Femi Oke asked any finance ministers present to raise their hands, attendees looked around expectantly — to no avail.
The dearth of finance ministers in the discussion about agriculture and nutrition is a central challenge for another panelist, Akinwumi Adesina, who assumed the presidency of the African Development Bank last year. Adesina, a former minister of agriculture in Nigeria, says he wants to shift the conversation about nutrition from one of social service to one of economic necessity.
Malnutrition contributes to 45 percent of all deaths of children under 5, according to a report produced in advance of the discussion. An estimated $7 billion per year in additional funding will be required for the next 10 years to meet global nutrition goals endorsed by member states of the World Health Assembly. Yet the sector receives underwhelming attention in developing country health budgets and less than 1 percent of official development assistance.