Combating Malnutrition in Underdeveloped Countries

Written By Luke Saddler

Malnutrition is a broad term, simply it can be defined as the lack of proper nutrition. It occurs when a person fails to meet or surpass their body’s nutrient requirement. Malnutrition can occur in the form of undernutrition or overnutrition. The former is far more common in underdeveloped countries that do not have access to sufficient food systems or proper healthcare. There are multiple types of undernutrition, including acute malnutrition (wasting), chronic malnutrition (stunting), and micronutrient deficiency (World Health Organization, 2024). The global scale of malnutrition, specifically undernutrition, is quite large today. In 2022, 149 million children under the age of 5 were diagnosed to be too short for their age, or stunted, and 45 million were diagnosed to be too thin for their height, or wasted.

According to the World Health Organization (2024), nearly half of all deaths among children under the age of 5 were linked to undernutrition. The impact of the burden of malnutrition in underdeveloped countries is grave. Malnutrition increases healthcare costs and reduces the productivity of their economies, inevitably trapping countries into one big cycle of poverty. Some of the areas most affected by malnutrition are Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

There have been a vast amount of strategies to fight malnutrition, however, there are a few novel attempts that have recently stood out. To begin, Kenya has attempted to combat malnutrition by taking a look at their agricultural issues. For example, Kenya is home to a potent parasitic plant, known as striga. Striga, also called witchweed, devastates maize crops across western Kenya, sucking the water and nutrients out of the roots of the maize, which is a staple food for Kenyans. According to research, witchweed causes “an estimated $7-14 billion in damage to farms in sub-Saharan Africa every year” (Justus Netia & Holland, 2024). Researchers developed a bioherbicide called Kichawi Kill, which specifically targets witchweed without harming the surrounding crops. This is because it is “made from a naturally occurring fungus that has been engineered to help it kill the witchweed it targets... causing no harm to farmers or the local ecosystem” (Justus Netia & Holland, 2024). Commercially launched in June of 2023, Kichawi Kill has drastically improved maize yields to increase access to food and provide better nutrition for vulnerable populations. As an eco-friendly solution, it will provide long-term benefits for agriculture and food security in the area.

Next, South Asia has been fighting the triple burden of malnutrition, which means they have high rates of child undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and childhood obesity. Eight countries in South Asia were able to tackle the issue through efforts of “nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive sectoral programs and policies towards achieving these targets” (Wali et al., 2023). These policies targeted malnutrition through a combination of direct and indirect strategies. The nutrition-specific programs aimed to address malnutrition directly. For instance, they focused on growth monitoring for early detection of undernutrition and improving maternal health services for better nutrition for mothers and young children. An example of one of these programs would be India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which “aimed to improve the nutrition status and overall development of children under the age of 6 years and the nutrition of pregnant and lactating women” (Wali et al., 2023). On the other hand, nutrition-sensitive programs aimed to indirectly address malnutrition through the education of health and hygiene. An example of a nutrition-sensitive program is the promotion of food-based dirty guidelines or FBDGs. To illustrate, “India and Sri Lanka had policies to reduce salt/sodium consumption” and “only India had the policy to limit saturated fatty acid intake and to eliminate industrially produced trans fatty acids” (Wali et al., 2023). Looking at these specific South Asian countries, they were able to promote strategies and initiatives to counter malnutrition directly and indirectly.

Although these strategies have been groundbreaking, there still are a lot of barriers to implementing these strategies to fight malnutrition in other countries. For example, in Ghana, the “lack of irrigated agricultural land and poor harvests were reported as main barriers to optimal nutrition” (Delisle et al., 2021). Ghana’s agriculture, for the most part, is rainfed. This heavy reliance on rain makes it vulnerable to seasonal changes and weather patterns, such as prolonged dry seasons. This inevitably leads to poor crop yields and reduced food availability. Nevertheless, we must combat malnutrition at a global and local level to improve overall health, reduce poverty, and foster sustainable development for countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

References

Luke Saddler
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