Ensuring a Mighty Future with Micronutrients
Functioning health and food systems deliver essential nutrients for newborns and children
Micronutrient deficiencies are the most widespread form of malnutrition, affecting hundreds of thousands of children each year, impairing their future and even their survival.
Thirty years ago, global leaders made bold commitments to eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies. While we have seen improvements thanks to the introduction of effective, low-cost, and high-coverage programs, a lack of vitamins and minerals continues to stymie progress in reaching our development goals.
As the global nutrition community works to build new evidence and alliances to prevent malnutrition in all its forms, we can use this time to re-focus our attention on delivering micronutrients and fulfill our commitment to giving children, our newest generation, everything they need to grow and develop fully.
USAID’s Leadership in Delivering Proven, Cost-effective Solutions
We know what works to prevent micronutrient malnutrition. Game-changing research championed by USAID has resulted in cost-effective health and food systems interventions that reach children with the nutrients they need. Vitamin A supplementation, for example, costs about $1.20 per child per year, but yields around $40 in economic benefits thanks to its life-saving benefits and gains in productivity from optimal development in early childhood.
For more than 50 years, USAID has been a global leader in delivering these life-saving interventions, moving us closer to overcoming micronutrient malnutrition, and achieving lasting change.
USAID led the way with partners such as UNICEF and others to ensure the availability of iodine — essential for brain development — through universal salt iodization programs, which resulted in the disappearance of iodine deficiency almost everywhere. Additionally, we have prevented birth defects in infants through flour fortified with folic acid to ensure women receive this essential nutrient before they become pregnant. We focused international attention on the issue through the creation of the Micronutrient Forum, which wrapped up its fifth annual conference last week.
USAID has also invested in strengthening the delivery of essential nutrition services through health systems. In Tanzania, we collaborate with local and international partners to integrate and strengthen nutrition services into prenatal care visits, including the promotion of early and exclusive breastfeeding. USAID also supports countries to provide a vitamin A boost to young children through both national campaigns and at health care facilities.
USAID, along with our partners, supports the food system by expanding the production of biofortified foods, such as beans, maize, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, and rice, to include nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A. In Uganda, the local government and private sector have embraced biofortification, integrating the approach into numerous policies, programs, and product lines. In addition, five national agriculture and health policies and strategies now officially include biofortification as a solution to address micronutrient deficiency.
Responding to Fragility in Health and Food Systems
We know that efficient and resilient health and food systems are key to ensuring children receive vitamins and minerals from varied and sufficient diets. These same systems have been tested this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and require renewed attention and focus in the year ahead.
Health systems — which have traditionally relied on in-person interactions to provide essential nutrition services such as prenatal care or growth monitoring of children — have had to pause and adapt to take into account social distancing and hygiene measures.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility of critical parts of national, regional, and global food systems and the vulnerability of at-risk communities to purchase and access foods rich in vitamins and minerals. Shutdowns of borders and markets have limited the distribution of nutritious foods and increased food waste and food safety concerns. Poor and marginalized communities have disproportionately felt the burden of these disruptions in the food system.
USAID and its partners are using this moment to pivot programming to respond to these new challenges and inspire hope. But more is needed to ensure that health and food systems are equipped and able to deliver vitamins and minerals to those who need them most.
Ensuring a Mighty Future
Next September, the UN Food Systems Summit will bring global stakeholders together to take action to develop nutritious and sustainable food systems. Global leaders also will be meeting in December 2021 for the Nutrition for Growth Summit, which will be an opportunity to highlight the delivery of vitamins and minerals as a central component of achieving nutrition outcomes.
Despite the progress in the prevention of micronutrient deficiencies, we cannot lose sight of the importance of micronutrients in reaching our development outcomes. We will continue delivering proven interventions at scale and ensuring their sustainability, even in the face of crises. As a global community, we can nourish the next generation and ensure a mighty future with micronutrients.
About the Authors
Jim Barnhart is the Assistant to the Administrator in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security. Alma Golden is the Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Global Health.
