Investing in nutrition builds human capital and good nutrition is the bedrock of a healthy and productive society. Today, good nutrition cannot be achieved without effective collaboration and partnerships.
This is because the nature of the burden of malnutrition has changed over the years: no longer do policy discussions dwell solely over undernutrition, instead increasing focus is also placed on other forms of malnutrition such as micronutrient deficiencies and overweight and obesity. In addressing all forms of malnutrition, simultaneously, countries around the world have had to adopt innovative, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral strategies and actions.
Nutrition also has the power of bringing together relevant stakeholders across nations. In fact, one can argue that nutrition can be a vehicle for greater regional cooperation. The Prime Minister has shown keenness to work with neighbouring countries in the region to promote socio-economic development, especially, through better cooperation on poverty reduction. It would be a wise proposition to widen the areas of cooperation to include nutrition.
The region of South Asia represents a significant share of malnutrition burden. For instance, globally, close to 151 million children under the age of five suffer from stunting or low height for age, which is a manifestation of undernutrition. Of the 151 million stunted children, South Asia alone is home to almost 59 million children. This represents an almost 40 percent of the global burden of stunting.
While, the numbers of stunting remain high in the region, few countries have seen tremendous decline in stunting rates amongst children under five years of age. In the region, countries like Bangladesh and Nepal have been able to reduce stunting rates by 24% and 21%, respectively, since 2000, according to numbers by the Global Nutrition Report.
These reductions in stunting rates are impressive, and Bangladesh and Nepal need to be commended for this progress. As the new government in Pakistan embarks on its mission to reducing malnutrition, successful lessons from the region can be useful for future policy making.
With regards to the progress achieved by Bangladesh and Nepal on nutrition, two policy-relevant questions are relevant for Pakistan: first, what did the two countries do? Second, what were the reasons behind the success of what they did?
In both countries, pro-poor growth and poverty reduction initiatives have been instrumental in improving nutritional indicators. Social protection programmes, like the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Pakistan, have supported families in improving food security and incomes at the household level. Particularly, for Nepal overseas immigration and resulting remittances have also been a significant driver for income growth and poverty reduction. While in Bangladesh, employment opportunities in the non-farm and manufacturing sectors, such as the ready-made garments industry for women, have been crucial in raising incomes and ensuring household level food security.
In addition, the two countries have made serious improvements in enabling access and use of basic services and facilities in the areas of health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene and family planning. In Nepal, these improvements have been supported by increases in public health spending and decentralization of health services that have empowered communities at the local level. In Bangladesh, the result of expanded coverage of health services has resulted in reduction of fertility rates from 6.8 in 1979 to 2.0 in 2016.
In understanding why these initiatives worked two common themes emerge. Much of the improvements in nutrition can be attributed to a focus on efforts in addressing the underlying causes of malnutrition, or in other words a focus on nutrition-sensitive measures.
Another prominent reason for success has been the involvement of multiple actors, including different levels of government, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, a wide range of NGOs, and communities themselves, often through volunteer organizations, in the design and implementation of the nutrition policies.
Just as problems of today cross borders, so can solutions. Eradicating malnutrition can be a common priority for countries in South Asia; and given the similarities between them, in terms of shared history, cultures, languages, political and economic enabling environment, successful policy lessons in nourishing populations hold great relevance.
Pakistan has a lot to share and learn from neighbouring countries in the region on nutrition. The PM in his inaugural speech hoped to work with neighbouring countries in addressing socio-economic problems. High levels of malnutrition are a region-wide issue and it needs to be on the agenda for regional cooperation.
Author: Ahmed Raza Gorsi works in international development specializing in food, agriculture and nutrition. Views expressed here are his own. Twitter: @ahmedraza_gorsi.
